5 players who earned praise from Wigan Warriors coach Matt Peet in Castleford Tigers win
Ryan Hampshire (left) and Kruise Leeming (right) celebrate a Wigan Warriors try in 2024
Wigan Warriors coach Matt Peet shared praise for five of his players following their win over Castleford Tigers on Friday night.
The Warriors downed the Tigers for the second time in six days as they ran out comfortable 36-14 winners at the DW Stadium in Round 8 of Super League on Friday night.
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Peet praised the following five players for their performances in the victory..
Kruise Leeming
Ruck speed was hard to find today I thought, so Kruise, we probably didn’t see as much of him today as we did last week in terms of his running game, but I thought defensively he was very strong. He would have knocked a lot of tackles out and his service was outstanding, so I think it’s another step in the right direction for Kruise.
PLAYER RATINGS: Wigan Warriors player ratings as Liam Farrell, Bevan French shine in Castleford Tigers win
Zach Eckersley
I like the way he got himself into the game straight away. He had some good moments and it’s my job to give Zach more opportunities because he’s ready for Super League. We’ve got a good backline and at some point Zach is going to play in some big games for this club and it’s our job to get him ready. We debated whether to start him and take one of our outside-backs out but they were all keen to build, I didn’t want to change the right edge too much with Junior (Nsemba) and Rocky (Ryan Hampshire) being in, so it’s a balancing act. You never get it 100 per cent right but that’s my job I guess.
Mike Cooper
I thought he was good. He played around half an hour, it was just a matter of giving him some game time either side of half-time and I think he’ll be pleased with himself.
Junior Nsemba
He’s so powerful, he’s learning all the time and I thought it was another really positive performance from him. He’s good to watch, isn’t he? He’s very explosive and a challenge for him playing with a different half partner as well, I thought Rocky (Hampshire) found a bit of flow towards the end of the game. Junior is strong, he’s determined, he wants to learn and he’s a good player now for us, but he’s going to develop.
ANALYSIS: Remember, remember, Junior Nsemba: Charting the rise of Wigan Warriors’ towering prospect
Ryan Hampshire
I feel (squad depth) it’s a real strength of ours. If you look at our squad make-up, to have someone with experience waiting for an opportunity, training hard daily, making our sessions really good, a popular member of the team and when he steps in he brings an assuredness and calmness to us and physically he knows what Super League is all about. He’s an important part of our squad because of his versatility. I’m able to take Jai (Field) out the firing line this week and we’ve got a really able deputy there.
