Catalans Dragons have confirmed Joel Tomkins as their new head coach and the Englishman has outlined plenty in his first official presser.
Introduced by club president Bernard Guasch, Tomkins was confirmed as the permanent head coach of Catalans Dragons having led the club for the past eight games on an interim basis.
He’s won just one of those games so his appointment has raised eyebrows but Guasch spoke at length about why Tomkins was the right man for the job, outlining a dream for the team to be younger and faster as he cited a change in how the game is played during the club’s 20 year stay in Super League.
Getting younger was something that Tomkins touched on when he addressed recruitment, at first with the French media and then with the English, both of whom he spoke to in English.
He did confirm that learning French is high on his priority list as he spoke on the tough tasks that Catalans face as a ‘multi-lingual team’, and “something that we need to embrace and use as one of our strengths”.
What Joel Tomkins said on becoming Catalans Dragons’ head coach
That multi-lingual aspect was highlighted by the half hour in which Guasch addressed the press in French before Tomkins did the same but in English, however, Tomkins is insistent the pair are on the same page.
Speaking on the fact that 2026 will be a “big transitional year”, Tomkins said: “There will be a lot of players leaving at the end of the season and a lot of new players coming into the team. Me and Bernard understand each other and I think we’re both on the same page where we want the club to go.”
One of the things that Guasch did speak to the French press about was the club’s intent to take a game to Paris, something that ‘will be done in the coming weeks and months’ with a game at the Stade Francais teased, however, the focus was on Tomkins.
The head coach briefly touched on recruitment, something he’d later circle back to, stating: “Quality recruitment is another area we need to look at but the main focus is to win the first Grand Final for the Dragons over the next couple of years. That’s the biggest goal for us as a club.
“Bernard’s put a lot of faith in me as a young coach coming into the club. It’s a special year for the club next year, the 20th anniversary and I played in the first game as an 18-year-old so to go full circle is really exciting.
“I’m excited about the challenge and I’m very grateful to Bernard and the board. The priority is to win games and win trophies.”
“Big change in recruitment” reveals Tomkins
Recruitment won’t come at the expense of some of the club’s young players though, as he explained how Catalans legend Thomas Bosc, the current head of youth development, will play a big role at the Dragons.
Tomkins explained: “Obviously, like every team in Super League, we want to develop our young players and we will be putting a lot of effort into those areas.”
He also confirmed that team selection for the final eight games of the year won’t be done solely with an eye on next year, insisting that winning is still the most important aspect but that if he were ’50/50′ on a selection call that he’d favour the player who will play in 2026.
As for that recruitment, it seems that Tomkins has been involved in the process since Steve McNamara’s exit as he confirmed that it was “one of the first conversations” that he and Guasch had upon his confirmation as interim coach.
“He wanted me to be involved in the recruitment process from a coach’s point of view, whether it was myself of somebody else who was going to come in as head coach,” Tomkins confirmed.
On that recruitment model, he said: “It’s changing a little bit or quite a lot to be honest. We’re looking at a younger generation. I think the average age of our top 20 this year is over 31 and we’ll be looking to bring that average to 26 or 27 maybe.
“There will be quite a big change in the recruitment strategy and you’ll see that in the coming weeks and months with the announcements we’ll make of players coming to the club, some agreed and some close to being agreed.”
Going further, he said: “The big one is that we’re avoiding those players who are at the end of their careers and we’re looking at guys who are still on the way up in their careers.”
Catalans Dragons’ coaching plans and Sam Tomkins’ future confirmed
Whilst there was no confirmation of who would be appointed as Tomkins’ assistant, bar an acknowledgement that Ryan Sheridan would continue in his role, the new head coach did confirm that his brother Sam would have no role in the set-up.
“Sam’s made it quite clear that he’ll retire at the end of the season and he’s got a role in the media moving forward,” big brother Joel revealed.
He added: “For Sam, I think he’s quite clear he wants to move forward working in the media whether that’s on Sky or whoever the broadcaster is. He’s pretty clear that he’s a supporter of the Dragons, he’ll continue to live in Perpignan but he’s got a clear motivation that he wants to move into a media role in the years to come.”
As to who could come in and be part of the coaching staff, Tomkins said: “We will probably look at bringing one or two other guys in as assistant coaches or transition coaches for those young guys.
“Those people haven’t been finalised yet but hopefully we can get on with that over the next couple of months.”
Speaking finally on the fact his contract is a two-year deal, he explained: “When Bernard offered me the job, it was quite important to him and me that we had a bit of time and continuity, especially when you’re looking at signing players.
“It’s not very often you’ll sign players on a one-year deal so I think we’ll have that continuity for the next two years.”
𝐉𝐨𝐞𝐥 𝐓𝐨𝐦𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐪𝐮’𝐞𝐧 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟕
Les Dragons sont heureux d’annoncer la prolongation de Joel Tomkins au poste d’entraineur pour les deux prochaines saisons.🇲🇫 https://t.co/OO7Xf1jcBS
🇬🇧 https://t.co/QzrmqEWVUe pic.twitter.com/4UWir3eT15— Dragons Catalans (@DragonsOfficiel) July 22, 2025
