SJA Team of the Year: The case for Wigan Warriors

[josie andrews]

Voting is open for SJA members to decide the winners of three major categories at the British Sports Awards 2024; winners will be announced live on Sky Sports News on Wednesday 20 November; Stuart Broad, Mary Earps and Manchester City’s men’s team claimed the 2023 honours; who will take the top prizes this year?

As far as club success goes, Wigan Warriors fans probably have a better time of it than most.

From an extended period of dominance in the 1980s and 1990s – which saw Wigan win the Challenge Cup and League Championship eight and seven successive seasons respectively – to more recent domestic success under head coach Matt Peet, there is seldom long to wait before another cause for celebration.

This year, however, Warriors have gone above and beyond, achieving something entirely unprecedented since the inception of the Betfred Super League and arguably elevating the club to dynasty status.

After beating Hull KR 9-2 in the Grand Final, Wigan became the first team ever to win four major competitions in one year, having won the League Leaders’ Shield, World Club Challenge and Challenge Cup earlier in the season.

At the full-time klaxon, elated players embraced their teammates or sunk to their knees, not yet able to comprehend the magnitude of their accomplishment, as the atmosphere erupted inside Old Trafford.

The talismanic Bevan French was awarded the newly-titled Rob Burrow Award for his electric performance that was so very reminiscent of the great man, and it is in fact French who embodies the characteristics that make this Wigan team so special.

While his teammates – who are themselves some of the best in the world – openly admit French’s natural ability is in a league of its own, his hunger and desire to improve is matched by every player in the Wigan squad, a key component of success which cannot be underestimated.

This elite mindset is married with a world-class coaching staff. Peet is joined by former head coach Shaun Wane, now in the role of Leadership and Management Director, alongside two assistant coaches in the form of club legends Sean O’Loughlin and Tommy Leuluai.

With differing strengths and bags of collective experience, these four have worked effectively, bringing together all areas of the club to form a slick unit.

An academy system renowned for its strength, through which many of the current Wigan squad have risen, completes what is a fairly comprehensive recipe for success.

Speaking after the Grand Final, Matt Peet insisted that he and his club are determined to achieve more in the near future, and based on their recent dominance, it seems very likely that they will.

One would be hard pushed to find a sporting team more prolific in terms of domestic success this year, much less having utilised so many home-grown academy products.

After this historic achievement, with momentum and morale through the roof, it looks as though Wigan Warriors fans will once again be cheering very soon.

https://www.sportsjournalists.co.uk/awa ... quadruple/