Wigan coach Matt Peet has hinted he may resolve his selection dilemma caused by Bevan French’s return – by playing two full-backs.
French, previously the starting full-back, has made a full recovery from the hamstring injury that had sidelined him for the previous 10 months.
It looked like the mercurial player would be sorely missed by the Warriors when the injury struck – but at the start of this season, Jai Field has stepped into his shoes and performed brilliantly.
Now, as French looks to re-establish himself in the team, Peet is faced with a daunting decision of how to use them both to maximise the team’s success.
And he may even break with convention and field two full-backs – a prospect that could excite fans and terrorise defences.
“If we decide to go with two sorts of full-backs, each side of the field… we’re going to experiment with it,” he said.
Peet is no stranger to dipping his feet into unfamiliar waters.
He explained: “We’re trying to encourage our wingers to get off the wing more, which I think we’ve seen at times this year when our halves have moved sides.
“The more things that we can do that deviate from the norm, the harder it is for teams to preview us.”
This type of risk-taking is what propelled Peet to this managerial position despite his young age – 37 – and many who followed his academy coaching career would not be shocked at a bold tactic.
No one more so than club executive director Kris Rudlinski, who said Peet frequently challenged conventional strategies in his days as academy coach.
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The coach views the dilemma as a blessing and not a curse, stating, “We can be flexible; we can change week to week, game to game and within games when you’ve got two fast, skilful players.
“I think pigeonholing either one of them would be silly.”
