Wigan boss Matt Peet felt “embarrassed” after his side chucked away a 14-point lead to lose 40-18 to 12-man Leeds at the DW Stadium. Wigan seemed in control of proceedings after tries from Abbas Miski and Bevan French and an uphill battle for the Rhinos was made even harder when Zane Tetevano was sent off in the 38th minute for a late hit on Harry Smith.
However, Leeds, who just before that dismissal had scored a try against the run of play through Harry Newman, staged a magnificent second-half response to score six tries through Tom Holroyd, Richie Myler, Newman, Rhyse Martin, Cameron Smith and Liam Tindall. That earned the visitors a remarkable win and consigned shellshocked Wigan, whose only second-half points came from a converted Iain Thornley try despite the Warriors having an extra player, to a second successive defeat.
Peet told a press conference: “It’s the first time in this job I’ve felt embarrassed with what we’ve served up in the second half. The lads will feel the same and I’ve just seen them all there and they are pretty low.
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"I always thought Leeds would be a threat in the second half as they had nothing to lose being a man down and their quality shone through, but I thought we were very poor. It was a poor start to the second half and once we got behind we went from bad to worse really.”
Peet felt his side let their standards slip after the break, adding: “There have been some harsh words – I thought in that 40 minutes to concede so many points, standards are standards. We spoke about the false sense of security and how Leeds would come out firing. I knew Leeds wouldn’t go away, anybody that has watched them this year know they start slow in a few games, they hang around, they express themselves with the ball and have the ability to post points in succession.”
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