Catalans Dragons ‘confident’ ahead of St Helens clash as McNamara hails player’s ‘reaction’

Catalans Dragons head coach Steve McNamara has spoken on his side’s reaction after losing their opening three games in Super League, with the coach and one of the club’s star players commenting on their confidence ahead of Saturday’s game.

After stuttering past Halifax Panthers in Round Three of the Challenge Cup, Catalans would lose their opening three matches in Super League with Hull FC, Warrington and Leigh all defeating the Dragons.

The tides turned in Round Four as Catalans defeated Leeds Rhinos 11-0 in a pressure-relieving win before progressing to the Challenge Cup quarter-finals and then beating Castleford Tigers comfortably last weekend.

That response has been praised by head coach Steve McNamara who spoke this week ahead of the club’s clash with St Helens on Saturday evening at the Stade Gilbert Brutus.

Speaking to club media, he said: “I am happy with the reaction from the team after the start of the season. The three wins have been very good for our confidence.”

Catalans Dragons ‘confident’ ahead of St Helens clash

A boost in confidence was also something that former NRL man Reimis Smith spoke about with the Australian arguing that last Saturday’s win at The Jungle was something that had ‘been building’, despite the early season results.

Smith, who was impressive in the 26-4 win, said:  “It’s been building (towards) that type of win. I thought the boys did really well, we worked hard for each other and got over the line a couple of times so it helps going forwards.”

He has already been used in an array of positions this season, including in the halves, but he’s now back at centre with Catalans looking a lot more settled after the return of Sam Tomkins, a man who loves playing against St Helens.

“It’s going to be a big match”, Smith said when previewing that game.

“St Helens are known for many years for being one of the best clubs in Super League so it’s going to be a big challenge for us, but like I said before, we’ve been building in the last couple of weeks.

“I’m feeling confident going into this game that it’s going to be a battle but we’ll put our best foot forward and give ourselves the best chance to win this week.”

Underlining that growing confidence, he noted: “We didn’t start the way we wanted to but we’re just taking it week by week and training session by training session and really put the pieces together, which I feel like we’re doing. We’re building confidence and I’m confident in our team.”

Les Dracs host St Helens at the Stade Gilbert Brutus on Saturday evening with kick off slated for 5:30 pm, with details on how to watch the game here.