McNamara reveals what Sam Tomkins had to go through to play

Catalans Dragons Head Coach Steve McNamara revealed he did not know whether or not Sam Tomkins would be fit to play right up until kick off.

Tomkins had not played since picking up a knee injury against Wigan Warriors in the final regular season match, but McNamara had always been hopeful Tomkins would return.

He ended up starting at fullback, and revealed just what he had to do to make sure he was fit to play.

McNamara said:”Sam Tomkins nearly didn’t play, it went down as far as the warm up, but we had prepared for that.

“He had a Grade 2 medial injury. He was in a lot of pain, we flew him to England for treatment, came back to France and we gave him painkilling injections tonight.

“It was a risk, it could have shut his leg down. But he managed to get himself on the field. He still can’t feel it, we will have to wait to see how he is once it wears it off.

“I don’t know if he will play for England (against France). My guess is probably not, but it would not be right for me to say at this stage.”