Meet the ‘secret weapon’ fuelling Wigan Warriors’ champion mentality

Former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp coined the phrase ‘mentality monsters’, and that’s exactly what Wigan Warriors’ squad is full of thanks to psychologist Tom Young.

Young, who has been involved with sporting teams and figures for over a decade, was brought in by Wigan ahead of the 2024 campaign.

Spending at least one day a week at Robin Park Arena in and around Matt Peet’s squad and staff, he was no stranger to rugby league having previously seen both England and St Helens utilise his services.

But what followed was unprecedented as he played an understated role in the Warriors’ quadruple-winning season – seeing the players he worked alongside every week reign supreme in the World Club Challenge, Challenge Cup and Super League.

He didn’t make the tackle on Taylan May in the World Club Challenge, nor did he score the dazzling breakaway try at Old Trafford as Peet’s side beat Hull KR to clinch a second successive Grand Final victory.

But throughout the year, his words – and actions – helped Jai Field and Bevan French to do the above, along with a whole lot more.

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Meet the man fuelling Wigan Warriors’ champion mentality – Tom Young

Earlier this month, LoveRugbyLeague were in attendance at Wigan’s pre-season media day ahead of the 2025 campaign, which kicked off with a ten-minute presentation from Young on his role.

And catching up with him later that day one-on-one, the Liverpool John Moores University graduate explained: “I’d done a bit with England with Waney (Shaun Wane), and worked over at Saints for a couple of seasons too.

“It was through Waney, he brought me in to meet Matt and Rads (Kris Radlinski) and it was then a case of them getting to know me, seeing how I’d like to work and what I could add to this environment.

“That was a challenge in itself really because they already do so much really well. A lot of my work does come from recommendations because it’s not something you market really, it is predominantly word of mouth.

“As a psychologist, it’s always been in and around sport for me and I think you always tend to get involved in the sports that you grew up playing.

“I didn’t play league, I played rugby union at school and I grew up around Fylde (Rugby Club) because my dad played there.

“I’ve ended up predominantly working in football, rugby league and golf – working with the Ryder Cup team and Tommy Fleetwood.

“I’ve worked with Keely Hodgkinson, all of my clients at the moment seem to be in and around this area!

“You’ve got to know the sport you’re working in to an extent, but you don’t need to be an expert in it because everyone else around you is an expert in it.

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“I work across both clubs here, with the football club (Wigan Athletic) too. That brings different challenges because of where the clubs are at, but there are loads of similarities in terms of the athletes that you’re working with.

“It tends to be one day a week and some weeks you might do a couple more, but it’s around being proactive with it.

“There is a benefit from being in regularly and being proactive with it rather than being in all of the time, because you’ve got to be able to challenge a little bit and you’ve still sort of got that outside view.”

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‘If you do it little and often, you’re drip-feeding things through to them consistently’

Hailing from Preston, Young – officially a Chartered Psychologist – founded his own business a little over eight years ago, and often delivers after-dinner talks.

His expertise in his field was evidenced enough by the presentation received at the start of the media day, but his integration within the group at Wigan was clear to see throughout the day with players ripping into him for being interviewed, all in good jest, of course.

On what makes the Warriors the ideal clients for him to work with, he continued: “Everyone’s expectations of a psychologist might be slightly different, but what’s been great here is being allowed to just get involved.

“Traditionally, you get asked to deliver a session, do it, disappear and come back a month later to do another one.

A dream that was Rome 🇮🇹 🇪🇺 🏆 pic.twitter.com/lNvX1bXPtL

— Tom Young (@Tom_Cognite) October 3, 2023

“You’re not in it then, you’re not around at breakfast and you’re not watching the training… my challenge coming in was realising that this group already do a lot of stuff really well.

“You’ve got a coaching staff that probably already do a lot of psychology without having a label on it. It’s probably easier to go into an environment where they don’t do a lot of this stuff, but it’s about me adding to this in a way that they aren’t already doing and that’s a constant thing.

“I’ll do one-to-ones regularly with the lads, even if they’re only 15 minutes. If you do it little and often, you’re drip-feeding things through to them consistently.

“Sometimes we’ll sit and talk about things going on in their lives away from rugby, away from the field.

“It all depends, and we’re all works in progress, but you’ve got to understand that someone who has just come into this environment is going to have a different focus than someone who has played 300 games.

“It would also be poor of me to assume that those guys don’t need or want any support too, though.

“We do loads of stuff in groups where lads will open up a little bit, because we’re all just people at the end of the day… if you’re in football, golf, rugby league, whatever, we’ve all got concerns and we’ve all got things that hold us back.

“With the word psychology, people go to a certain place in their heads. There’ll be times when lads need support in things that I maybe can’t offer, but my focus is on personal development, performance and wellbeing.”

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‘The players really buy into it, it’s not just an add on to them, it’s part of what they do’

Even during a jam-packed media day where virtually every player had numerous interview requests, and Young spoke to members of the media too, time was still made for any member of the squad that wished to speak to him one-to-one.

Everything discussed in that scenario remains confidential, as is only right, but the togetherness we get to see out on the field is built from within, and he undoubtedly plays his own part in that.

As Wigan prepare to enter another new season in which they’ll chase more silverware, Young finished by detailing the thing that has impressed him most since arriving at the club this time last year.

He said: “The emphasis that they have on building trust and building connections with each other.

“How proactive they are with it is impressive… it’s not a reactive thing because it’s something we’ll spend time on each week regardless of what happens.

“It’s certainly not just me driving it either, in fact it’s probably Matt driving it and I just chip in.

“The players really buy into it, it’s not just an add on to them, it’s part of what they do.”

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