French's cup return 'had been planned for a while'

Wigan Warriors boss Matt Peet says the plan had always been for Bevan French to make his return for the Challenge Cup final.

A large portion of French's season had looked to be over in March as he suffered a hamstring injury.

That injury was due to keep the talismanic stand-off out for four months, which would have ruled him out until early July.

However he returned for a second-half cameo at Wembley and scored a try within a matter of minutes to help his side on the way to a 40-10 win over Hull KR.

"It's been the plan for a while," Peet said in his post-match press conference.

"We always had this game in mind. He had to be ticking the boxes off along the way in terms of his running, scans, strength tests and markers.

"The physios were saying throughout the process that this game would be achievable.

"There was be an option to play him for more minutes but we were comfortable in the position we were in and with how Jack [Farrimond] was playing.

"We wouldn't have risked losing him for the rest of the season."

Without his services, Wigan lost five out of 11 fixtures, including last week's heavy defeat by Hull KR.

Farrimond has stepped up in his absence and played a starring role at stand-off on Saturday, scoring twice and putting in a peach of a kick in for Junior Nsemba's try.

That stunning performance earned Farrimond the Lance Todd Trophy.

"It's great having someone as good as Bevan playing the same position as you and his knowledge in the game is massive," Farrimond said.

"Some things you don't think about at such a young age and straight away he's given that next step and tried to push me out of my comfort zone.

"He's been watching and taken it personal to get me as ready as I am for a game like this.

"To have such a calm head next to you in the heat of the moment is massive."

One of Wigan's defeats in French's absence was their Good Friday derby loss against St Helens having led by 14 points with 20 minutes to go only to lose 34-24.

That defeat proved to be the inspiration which led to Wigan's 32-0 thrashing of Saints to get to Saturday's final.

In the aftermath of that win, Peet had claimed that St Helens had "lost their identity" given their reaction to loanee Bill Leyland's pair of late tries that day.

Leyland, had joined Saints on an emergency one-week loan from Hull KR, with many Super League clubs suffering from injuries in the early stages of the season.

In the closing stages of the Challenge Cup final, with Wigan 30 points up and on the verge of victory with just two minutes remaining, Sam Walters and Nsemba combined in a poor tackle on Leyland, with Walters seeing red as a result.

Asked about the incident, Peet added: "I'd rather it didn't happen.

"I know Sam was disappointed after the game."