Matt Peet responds to Liam Byrne speculation after Hull FC name-drop

[josie andrews]

The Wigan Warriors head coach has had his say on reports linking Byrne with a move away from the club.

Matt Peet insists Wigan Warriors prop Liam Byrne is going nowhere. Speculation has quietly persisted that the Ireland international may depart the Brick Community Stadium during the off-season, despite remaining a regular this year.

Byrne made 23 appearances for Wigan this season, which included outings in the World Club Challenge, Challenge Cup Final and Super League Grand Final.

Despite that, there have been ongoing suggestions that Byrne may leave the Warriors. Speculation escalated on Wednesday when he was name-checked at a Hull FC fans forum, with director of rugby Richie Myler asked if he was the type of player the club would be interested in signing.

Myler was non-committal, saying: "It's not right for us to talk about contracted players. I don't think that's right. We are probably a middle short, Fashy has an injury and we need to look to add a player in that department, but I don't want to speak to someone who is under contract, it's probably disrespectful to Wigan. A person of that person's quality is someone we'd like to add."

When approached by Rugby League Live, Wigan boss Peet insisted the Warriors had no desire for Byrne to leave.

"Liam is an important member of our squad," he said. "He's under contract for another season and he will be staying with the club until then at the very least."

Wigan have made just one new signing for 2025, drafting in highly-rated young forward George Hirst from Oldham. Mike Cooper has retired, which has seen them lose one of their senior props ahead of the new campaign.

Under new rules, Byrne will be free to negotiate with rival clubs for the 2026 season from December 1st of this year. Following the route taken by the NRL, Super League has decided that players will be free to sign for rival clubs once they are in the final year of their contracts. With Byrne contracted until the end of 2025, he falls into that category, alongside a number of other high-profile players.

Byrne, 25, debuted for Wigan as a teenager and has gone on to make 126 appearances for the club. He represented Ireland in the 2022 World Cup and has remained a mainstay in Matt Peet's team during his three seasons in charge.

https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/sport/r ... fc-9716044

[southportcdm]

I'd forgotten he was still so young (I thought 25). I'm sure he'll be with us for next season. Props get injured a lot and there are very few decent ones available at the moment. Given his age, there's still time for him to find the form many of us think he's capable of on a consistent basis. I'd imagine any new contract offer will depend on his performance relative to Hill and Eseh this coming season.

[josie andrews]

We forget he played the majority of 2023 with an injury because we hadn’t enough props some through injury & others through the disciplinary bans!!

[the pieman]

i know there have been a couple of threads about this already and there are different opinions on Liam

for me, he's our 3rd prop, and if we lose Thompson or Havard to injury or suspension, he'd be the starting prop and capable of doing big minutes like the other 2. I'd have him in ahead of Dupree personally, and we all know Mago is a completely different type of prop adding short bursts to break things up a little

i think the club should be looking at a 2 + 1 year contract in the clubs favour to keep Liam, unless they feel that Harvie Hill is the better long term option and we then have Thompson, Havard, Hill, Dupree, Mago with Eseh / Chan and academy products coming through then filling the remaining prop roles if we are short, but to me that feels short, given we know how many injuries / bans the props pick up

[Wintergreen]

I don't see him day in, day out like Peet does.

However, for me he is just that little bit below standard.

Maybe he is cheap? Maybe he does things that I just don't see?

Either way Peet likes him and I suspect he is going nowhere.

[Charriots Offiah]

He is a good forward and certainly too good to lose, who would fill is boots? KR likes him.

[Exiled Wiganer]

He could go one of 3 ways from here. There was a time last year when he was superb, a genuinely dominant prop doing long minutes. He then got injured. We haven’t seen that since.
If he stays as he was when he was at his “best” this year, then we should keep him as a member of the rotation. If he can’t adjust his tackle style and loses even more confidence, we should look elsewhere (in any case he would be overtaken by Hill and others in our pecking order).
If, though, Peet can get peak 23 Byrne appearances out of him he will be a fantastic asset. If anyone can, Peet can.
Which makes this an easy decision for me. Keep him and work towards the 3rd outcome.