Most head coaches would struggle to find anything positive to say after a try-less golden point defeat, particularly if it was the team’s first home loss to a rival in over four decades.
Then again, Matt Peet is anything but most head coaches.
So it was perhaps no surprise to hear the Wigan Warriors boss praising the performance of both teams and the overall spectacle in the Betfred Super League season-opening 1-0 defeat to Leigh Leopards at the Brick Community Stadium on Thursday night.
- Super League Scorigami! Wigan and Leigh set unusal milestones in season opener
- Hanley: Belief saw Leigh through in 1-0 win over champions Wigan
- Like and subscribe to rugbyleaguehub.com on YouTube
“I hope its been spoken about in the right manner because a stray word here and there could under-sell that game,” Peet said.
“I’ve been involved in games where we’ve won by 40, 50 or 60, and that was a fascinating spectacle between two sets of blokes who deserve a lot of credit and two teams who deserve a lot of credit.
“I don’t know what everyone’s take on it was, but I thought it was a high level.
“The highlight reel won’t be very long, but when there’s so much talent on the field for both teams, for not a lot to happen for large periods a lot of people are doing things right and working hard for one another on both teams.”
A drop goal from Gareth O’Brien proved the difference in the first 1-0 scoreline in British professional rugby league for over 30 years, with reigning champions Wigan having both Liam Farrell and Adam Keighran sin-binned in the match as well.
Peet admitted Leigh deserved to win the 2025 season’s first ‘Battle of the Borough’, but was not too downcast after the match despite acknowledging missed opportunities for the Warriors.
“You can always look back on moments and hope players would have made a different decision in hindsight, particularly when you don’t win,” Peet said.
“But those are the things you can improve through the season.
“There are things we would have done differently and players will kick themselves when the watch it back, but that’s what the season is all about.
“There will be a lot to learn from both teams and positives, I think, from that game.”
