How will Wigan’s new-look coaching team fare in 2022?

In October, Wigan Warriors announced their new coaching set up which saw the return of some familiar faces heading into the upcoming 2022 season.

The managerial team is made up of Head Coach Matty Peet. Former Warrington Wolves man Lee Briers and Wigan legend Sean O’Loughlin will be his assistant coaches and the current England Rugby League manager Shaun Wane was appointed ‘leadership and management director’.

It was a disappointing end to the 2021 season for the Warriors which saw Adrian Lam’s time at the helm come to an end. After a season dominated by injuries at the D.W, Wigan suffered huge inconsistency with their results, with the play-offs even being questioned by some of the Warriors faithful at certain stages of the season.

The season got off to a flyer for the Warriors, winning seven out of their first eight games in all competitions. But four straight defeats at the back-end of June followed by a tough run of fixtures in August, left the cherry and whites fearing the worst in terms of their final league position.

The Warriors ended the league season on a high, with a hard-fought win over the League Shield winners Catalans Dragons by a score of 12-8, giving the fans a bit of hope that they would come up with the goods when it came to the play-offs.

But Lam’s side didn’t make it past the eliminator fixture as they were defeated 8-0 at home to Leeds Rhinos. With that result, not only did it end Wigan’s 2021 season, it also called time on Lam’s spell at the club in the managerial position after enjoying many years at the D.W in his previous spell as a player.

Fast-forward to early October, and a press conference was held revealing the new coaching set-up in place for the Warriors. It was no shock for many to see England manager Shaun Wane back at the DW. after previously winning three out of the four grand finals as winning one of the two Challenge cup finals that Wigan made during Wane’s tenure.

However, there was a couple of shock appointments within the announcement from the press conference.

Matty Peet was given his first opportunity as a first-team Head Coach, a move that could have been anticipated by many since it is well established that Warriors owner, Ian Lenagan, likes to promote from within.

Peet had originally been in a role that assisted with the youth set-up as well as being the first team assistant during Adrian Lam’s time at the club.

Therefore, Peet will be a known figure in the dressing room but will be looking to put his own imprint on the new-look Warriors side.

Then there are the assistant coaches. Firstly, there’s Lee Briers. Briers has previously worked alongside Peet whilst coaching the England Academy between 2014 and 2017.

The move to the DW ended a 24-year spell with Warrington Wolves in order to take up the new role after making over 400 appearances for Wire between 1998 and 2013 before becoming a coach for a further eight years at the Halliwell Jones.

In terms of experienced figures, not many people will know much more about Super League than Briers, and whilst he only mainly featured for one of the Warriors close rivals, he could prove to be a huge boost to this managerial setup in 2022 as he approaches nearly a decade in Rugby League coaching.

Alongside Briers in the assistant coach position is Mr Wigan in the form of Sean O’Loughlin.

Born in Wigan, O’Loughlin went on to play for 18 years at the DW, making over 450 appearances in the cherry and white. O’Loughlin is continuing in the role he picked up last year and working alongside Peet and Briers will certainly boost his coaching credentials.

Whilst this may well be an exciting time for Wigan with a new coaching team that brings new philosophies and set-plays, fans are still expecting more signings to boost the team after last year’s disappointment.

The Warriors have brought in the likes of Kaide Ellis, Cade Cust, Patrick Mago and Ramon Silva, but the cherry and whites’ faithful will be hoping to see a couple of more new faces before the first round of the Super League season when they face off against Hull KR at Craven Park on February 11.

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