Catalans Dragons winger Tommy Makinson made the move from St Helens in the off-season.
Along with some other big-name signings, the Dragons were expected to be the surprise package of 2025 after a big recruitment drive.
However, something hasn’t quite clicked in the South of France but Makinson is hopeful that their fortunes can turn around soon.
Speaking in the Catalans press conference, he said: “It wasn’t the start that we’d foreseen. Obviously, we’ve not started the way we wanted.
“It’s very early in Super League but there’s a lot of room for improvement and we want to start that this week with a strong performance against Leeds.
“It’s been a poor start but we know we can do a lot better. We’ve got a great team, we’ve got a good coach and good staff so we know we can do a lot better.
Makinson referenced their performance against Warrington in comparison to what they produced against Leigh.
He added: “I thought we performed pretty well against Warrington, we were still way off our best but we put in a good performance.
“I just think our performance against Leigh was so poor, we just slid right off, just across the board, individually.
“We’ve got to put that right this week, just about getting things right as an individual and then coming together as a strong team, which we are.
“We all know we’ve got a good team here at Catalans, we’ve just got to show it.
On the match-up with Leeds, the Catalans Dragons winger has been impressed with the Rhinos in 2025 but knows if they get it right, they can get the win over them.
He finished: “They’ve got a very good coach from the NRL, he’s installed a lot of good things about Leeds.
“I’ve watched all the games, they’re pretty difficult to handle and if you give them time and space, they’re a dangerous side.
“We’ve got to be on the top of our game, we’ve got to play well, which I don’t think bar Warrington, we’ve not put in a good team performance across the board yet.
“If we put in a good performance, we know what we can do but if we play like we have been doing, it won’t be good.”
