Matt Peet insists he never dared to dream of the day he would be leading Wigan out in a Betfred Super League Grand Final.
The home-grown 39-year-old started as a volunteer at the club before clawing his way through the scholarship and academy ranks to assume the prestigious head coach role in 2021.
But the unassuming Peet is at pains to point out that he never aspired to the position that will culminate in him taking charge against Catalans Dragons in his first Super League Grand Final on Saturday.
“I just wanted to do the best job I could at every step,” Peet told the PA news agency. “I took pride in being a volunteer and I didn’t necessarily think I wanted to take the job in order to progress.
“If you do a good job at Wigan there are people who trust you and believe in you and that’s what happened with me, particularly with (chief executive) Kris Radlinski, who saw enough in me to promote me from within.
“It took courage for him to do that, and hopefully it will pay off.”
Emulating his early mentor, the current England coach Shaun Wane, Peet was appointed Wigan’s assistant under-20s coach in 2009, moving on to his first head coaching role in charge of the under-18 side two years later.
As head of youth performance from 2013, Peet enjoyed remarkable success, leading Wigan’s academy side to six Grand Final wins in seven years, leaving him first in line following Adrian Lam’s departure in 2021.
Like 21-year-old hooker Brad O’Neill, whom he elevated to his first-choice number nine over experienced Sam Powell earlier this season, Peet has fond memories of sitting in the Old Trafford stands cheering Sam Tomkins to victory in the cherry-and-white.
By a twist of fate Peet now finds himself plotting to disrupt a fairytale finish for 34-year-old Tomkins, who will play the last match of his illustrious career in Catalans colours.
I've been to Grand Finals before as a fan and as head of youth helping Shaun, and when you look back does seem bizarre, but progression and development just come naturally at this club— Matt Peet
“I’ve been to Grand Finals before as a fan and as head of youth helping Shaun, and when you look back (it) does seem bizarre, but progression and development just come naturally at this club,” added Peet.
“We’ll try our best to approach it just like any other game. There are obviously things that will be different but the main thing is we are up against a fantastic team.
“The game will be super-intense but as far as emotion goes, it won’t be too different to last week, or the week before that.”
