WIGAN WARRIORS will roll into Friday night’s top-of-the-table showdown against Hull KR with renewed confidence after a hard-fought win in the south of France.
Coach Matt Peet believes Saturday night’s 26-18 win at Catalans Dragons, in which star player Bevan French returned from injury, could be a defining moment of this season for his side.
He said: “We like coming here to Catalans, it’s exciting, it feels like it’s an event and you gain unique experience, it puts pressure on everybody on the field and it’s great to see how your players respond to that pressure.
“It’s good for coaches to learn about their players. We will take that with us as we prepare for Friday’s game.
“Hull KR have been playing fantastic, they are the form team of the competition and we’ve had some great battles with them in the past.
“You can’t help but get a little bit excited about next weekend.”
Peet feels a momentum shift with Wigan’s end of season mission, buoyed by almost 2,000 supporters who made the trip to Perpignan for Saturday’s game.
He said: “We’ve got three home games in front of us and I hope the supporters who turned up in huge numbers tonight bring us home with a wet sail.
“It was great to have Bevan French back, he brings so much to us and he got better and better through the game. I like the way he applied himself with his kick-chase.
“For his first game back from injury I’m more than happy with the way he applied himself physically and he stood up well in such an intensive game.
“We’ll be back to our first-choice spine against Hull KR but I cannot fault the effort of the young players who have stepped up for us.”
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