Inside Wigan Warriors’ Super League preparations – from motivational quotes to a new signing

There’s a daily routine to Wigan Warriors’ pre-season training and it’s not just around sweat and toil.

Every day since starting work in November towards next month’s big Super League kick-off, young hooker Brad O’Neill has opened their practice sessions with a motivational quote. It’s become a thing. So that’s why the 20-year-old was sitting high astride a load of plyo bags in Wigan’s gym on Friday, ready to deliver his pearls of wisdom to his waiting audience.

It wasn’t just the Warriors squad and staff hanging on his every word, though. Head coach Matt Peet, always a firm believer in transparency and ideas sharing, had opened the doors of their impressive Robin Park training facility to the media to give an insight into how the Challenge Cup holders roll. O’Neill waited for hush and then declared: “Today’s quote is…… the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack!”

Cue loud cheers. And Everything But The Girls’ Missing blazing out of the stereo system. Another day was up and running.

O’Neill explains: “There can be tough, long days in pre-season, some tougher than others.

“We use quote of the day as a pick-me up for the boys. Matty’s really invested in it. He even ordered a book off Amazon with a year’s worth of quotes. But we don’t use it! I pick them or the lads come to me with them. And then I deliver!”