Catalans Dragons have confirmed that one of their star spine players will miss the start of the season and an extended period due to injury.
Steve McNamara’s side start their Super League season on Friday night when they host Hull FC at the Stade Gilbert Brutus and it seems that injury luck is already going against the French outfit.
During their testing Challenge Cup match against Halifax Panthers on Saturday when they won 14-0, they saw club legend Sam Tomkins limp off the field before half time with what was later confirmed to be a hamstring injury.
They’ve now confirmed a second key spine player to be injured with a club release revealing that half-back Theo Fages will miss the start of the season.
Fages, who joined the French club before the 2024 season after previously spending his professional career in England, will be out for “at least a month” on account of a training injury.
Catalans’ statement revealed: “Catalans Dragons will be without Théo Fages for at least a month.
“The France international suffered fractured ribs during a training session.”
It’s a major blow for Catalans particularly given the timing of Tomkins’ injury meaning they’re down two senior spine players, something that will force a slight reshuffle.
We got to see what that could look like in the game against Halifax on Saturday with Cesar Rouge starting in the halves alongside Arthur Mourgue, who is well adept at both full-back.
In all likelihood, Mourgue will move into the full-back role with Rouge partnered in the halves by NRL recruit Luke Keary whilst both Tomkins and Fages are absent.
Other injury issues of late have seen a lack of centres with Arthur Romano and Matthieu Laguerre both missing Saturday’s game, forcing Steve McNamara to play winger Nick Cotric and second-row Bayley Sironen in those positions.
Whilst we know that Fages will be sidelined for ‘at least a month’, the timescale for Sam Tomkins is less clear with McNamara simply confirming that it was a hamstring injury when he spoke after Saturday’s match.
