When Matty Peet accepted the job he had worked his entire adult life towards not even he could have envisaged that in his 17th match as a head coach he would be leading out his hometown club, Wigan, in the Challenge Cup final. But that is now the reality for Peet, who has worked his way up from coaching Westhoughton Lions’ under-12s to the biggest job in the game.
Probably no club is more synonymous with the Challenge Cup than Wigan and Peet, who has attended finals at Wembley as a supporter and member of the club’s backroom staff, now takes the lead role, albeit at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 28 May. The young group of players he has transformed in a matter of months were worthy winners at Elland Road as they survived an almighty comeback from their great rivals, St Helens.
“We will go and create some memories together,” Peet said after Liam Marshall’s late try decided a thrilling semi-final. “We knew the prize at the end of this was huge but I’ve got so much trust in this group.”
His side executed their gameplan to perfection in a one-sided first half, establishing a 14-0 lead through tries from Marshall, Cade Cust and Liam Farrell.
At that stage the prospect of a St Helens comeback seemed unthinkable. The reigning Challenge Cup holders were off-colour and their half-back, Jonny Lomax, was carrying an injury that was clearly affecting his play.
“We didn’t apply ourselves in that first half and we didn’t have the resolve we usually do,” said their coach, Kristian Woolf .
Marshall crossed for an early opener, Cust dummied his way across from close range and then Farrell pounced on a slip from Lomax to make it 14-0.
St Helens had to score first after half-time to stand any chance. But even when they did, courtesy of Konrad Hurrell’s try, they still had an immense amount of work to do.
On the following set Lomax capitalised on a pass from Tommy Makinson to narrow the deficit to two points, with Makinson converting both tries in the blink of an eye.
As the hour mark approached, St Helens’ talismanic captain, James Roby, moved them ahead for the first time as he stretched out to ground the ball under pressure from two defenders.
It was a familiar feeling, the all-conquering Saints seemingly getting back on course and booking their passage to another final. But this time, for once, the outcome was markedly different.
It was perhaps cruel that Lomax, who was integral to the fightback and will play on for the rest of the season with a ruptured , was involved in the play that led to Wigan’s winning try. His errant pass went to ground and Marshall had the wherewithal to collect and outpace Makinson to the line, diving under the posts to give Harry Smith a simple conversion and nudge Wigan back ahead.
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There have been any number of late St Helens comebacks but there was a different feel to proceedings this time. Wigan held them at bay, sparking wild scenes among the supporters and players at the final hooter.
Appointing Peet, without a senior head coaching role to his name, was widely viewed as a gamble by Wigan supporters over the winter. That gamble already looks to have paid off in a matter of months.
