Matt Peet defends selection after unrecognisable Wigan Warriors suffer Hull KR hammering

Patrick Mago was the only regular first-team player in the squad, with Peet citing a list of reasons for keeping all his big names on the sidelines just nine days before the two clubs are set to meet again in the Challenge Cup final at Wembley.

“I’ve always said I’d do it with individuals in mind and that’s pretty much what I’ve done, whether it was players carrying knocks, playing with painkilling injections, cumulative minutes or the risk of missing a great occasion through suspension,” said Peet.

“That’s the decision I’ve taken. I’ve played it both ways in the past. There’s no right or wrong answer and you earn the right to decide in my opinion. You’ve got to do what is best for your players.”

Wigan were swept aside from the opening moments, with Mikey Lewis scoring a hat-trick with less than 20 minutes on the clock and Tom Davies, Jez Litten, Jai Whitbread, Rhyse Martin, Dean Hadley, Noah Booth, Jack Broadbent and Sam Luckley following him over the try-line.

The visitors’ moment to remember arrived four minutes into a much improved second-half display when 20-year-old winger Nathan Lowe surged 80 metres to touch down after Oliver Gildart fumbled a ball in the Wigan half.

Peet added: “I think Hull KR deserve the scoreline. They were clinical and disciplined, but also I’m proud of the team. It was a very challenging environment and I’m really proud of them and the lesson they will learn about the intensity of the game at this level.”

In contrast Rovers head coach Willie Peters named an almost unchanged side, with only James Bachelor, Joe Burgess and Tyrone May ruled out with minor knocks that he expects to heal in time for next week.

But the big win may have come at a price with Hadley, Karl Lawton and Whitbread all set to be tested next week after picking up small setbacks.

“The first half I thought was really clinical but the second half, credit to Wigan, the young boys came out and threw things around and were physical and played well,” said Peters.

“The second half was scrappy but that can be expected because I moved people around. We got what we wanted out of it and that was two points.

“We just wanted to look at what we could control. It’s not my business and I wasn’t going to be reactive about what Wigan put out. We wanted to keep playing because it’s important that we get some momentum, and we looked at this as an important game on the calendar.”