10 1GS Saturday May 28 2022 | the times
Sport Challenge Cup final
rugby league managers for having a
degree in English literature — he got a
2:1 at Manchester Metropolitan Uni-
versity — and an interest in poetry.
“English was a subject I was decent
at,” Peet said.“I’ve got mates who would
probably take the mickey out of me
because I’m interested in poetry. I’m a
fan of poets such as William Blake and
Jack Kerouac; I just like anything where
people work hard and produce some-
thing, whether it’s a poem, film or song.
“I didn’t want to do PE, which would
have been the obvious thing, but it’sfunny how things turn out where I’ve
ended up working back in sport.”
Peet’s adversary today is Ian Watson,
the Huddersfield Giants’ head coach,
who guided Salford to the Super
League Grand Final in 2019 and the
Challenge Cup final a year later. They
lost both, although there was no shame
in that, and the highly rated Watson
crossed the Pennines to take over at
Huddersfield, backed by their wealthy
owner, Ken Davy, in search of the club’s
first Challenge Cup since 1953.
“My biggest belief was that Hudders-field had some very talented individu-
als but they weren’t playing as a team,”
Watson said. “This year, though, every-
one is together and players like Chris
Hill, Chris McQueen, Théo Fages and
Luke Yates have brought a winning
mentality. The Challenge Cup final is a
huge opportunity for everyone con-
nected with Huddersfield.”
Fages, Huddersfield’s French play-
maker, has been ruled out through
injury but Will Pryce is in contention
after a ten-game ban and Olly Russell
should feature after a hamstring strain.McQueen is brought down by Bateman, of Wigan, and the pair’s ferocious drive
to win will be a feature when they renew hostilities in the Challenge Cup finalTui Lolohea v Jai Field
The rival full backs are enjoying
outstanding campaigns and have
both made winning contributions
en route to the final. Lolohea has
thrived at Huddersfield, while Field
has been largely unstoppable for
Wigan, scoring 17 tries, often via
lung-bursting runs from deep.Oliver Russell v Cade Cust
Russell, the Huddersfield scrum half,
is expected to feature for his side
after a hamstring strain, pitting him
against the club where he was
nurtured in the academy. He will pit
his wits against the Australian
playmaker Cust, who has impressed
since his close-season arrival.Chris McQueen v John Bateman
Both players have a ferocious will to
win. McQueen has been a key figure
in the Giants’ back row this season,
while England international
Bateman has found his best form.The key head-to-heads
ALAMYThe man masterminding Wigan
Warriors’ attempt to win rugby league’s
oldest and most famous trophy for a
20th time is a poetry-loving English
literature graduate who never played
the game professionally.
It has been an unconventional route
to the top of the managerial ladder for
38-year-old Matty Peet, who
took charge of his home-
town club last year. As a
child he grew up during
one of Wigan’s golden
eras — they won the
Challenge Cup eight
times in a row from
1988 to 1995 — and it
will be the memories of
those years that will be
with him as his side take to
the field against Hudders-
field Giants at the Tottenham
Hotspur Stadium this afternoon.
“As a kid, I’d go down to Wembley
every year for the Challenge Cup final
and was there in 1994 when Martin
Offiah scored his famous long-range
Poetry-lover Peet
inspiring Wigan’s
tilt at Cup glory
try against Leeds,” he says. “I remember
getting up for the coach really early and
then singing all the way home.
“It’s not like that now, but because I
remember what a great time we had, I
know blokes who’ll be there this week-
end, which pubs they’ll be in. I just love
the idea of them all having a great
weekend but it’s all about taking that
final step and winning it now.”
After a disappointing 2021 campaign,
Wigan parted company with
Adrian Lam and promoted
Peet, his assistant and pre-
viously a long-serving
academy coach at the
club, to the main job.
Recruitment over the
winter has proved
shrewd and Peet has
helped to bring the
squad and the supporters
closer together and rebuilt
the club’s culture.
“I’ve seen Wigan Warriors flags
in people’s windows, schools have been
organising cherry-and-white days, and
we had 400 kids at the training ground
on Monday,” Peet said.
Peet is certainly unusual amongRoss Heppenstall
Wigan Warriors
v HuddersfieldToday, Tottenham
Hotspur Stadium, 3pm
BBC One, 2pm