Catalans Dragons v Wigan Warriors line-ups predicted as life after Steve McNamara begins

Catalans Dragons will begin life without Steve McNamara this weekend when they host Wigan Warriors at the Stade Gilbert Brutus. The Dragons parted ways with McNamara earlier this week with Joel Tomkins the man expected to be in charge when the Cherry and Whites roll into Perpignan.

Tomkins will be looking to see a reaction from his side, too, with last week’s 40-0 defeat to St Helens being a million miles from good enough. That was a result that proved to be the final straw for McNamara and the club will be keen to avoid the possibility of falling four points behind the play-off picture.

Wigan make the journey to the south of France with heaps of confidence after winning their last six Super League games and they’ll fancy their chances of extending that run as they strive to chase down league leaders Hull KR.

Here’s how we think both sides might line up on Saturday evening.

We’ll start with Wigan, who welcome Ethan Havard back into the fold for the first time this season with the prop overcoming the hamstring injury that has ruled him out for the entirety of the season so far.

Havard is in contention to play, but it seems unlikely that he’ll start the game in the south of France with Matt Peet no doubt keen to manage his minutes.

Zach Eckersley is also included in the 21-man squad after being stretchered off last week due to fears of a neck injury. He has trained this week but the Warriors won’t risk him if he’s not ready to feature.

If Eckersley isn’t fit enough, Jacob Douglas could be the man to start on the wing this week for what would be his third appearance of the season for Wigan.

Elsewhere the backline is likely to remain unchanged, while the starting pack won’t change too much, either, with Sam Walters continuing to shine through the middle. He could start alongside Luke Thompson, who dropped to the bench last week, as Wigan look to dominate early and deal with any Catalans response.

Havard coming onto the bench means someone has to miss out and Tyler Dupree might be the unlucky man.

Tommy Makinson looks set to come back into the starting line-up for Catalans after missing the clash against his former club and he might represent the only change to the backline.

Tevita Pangai Jr has started more often than not this year and it seems likely that Elliott Whitehead will return to the side after serving a one match ban last time out. He’ll be keen make his experience count and steady the ship during what has been a turbulent week for the club.

Tariq Sims could start in the back-row, too, with Paul Seguier dropping to the bench alongside Chris Satae. Cesar Rouge provides options off the bench should injury strike or Tomkins feel the need to change things up and give the Dragons more direction.

Predicted Catalans Dragons v Wigan Warriors line-ups

Catalans Dragons: Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet; Tommy Makinson, Matthieu Laguerre, Reimis Smith, Nick Cotric; Luke Keary, Theo Fages; Tevita Pangai Jr, Alrix Da Costa, Romain Navarrete; Elliott Whitehead, Tariq Sims; Oliver Partington.

Bench: Chris Satae, Jordan Dezaria, Paul Seguier, Cesar Rouge.

Wigan Warriors: Jai Field, Jacob Douglas, Adam Keighran, Jake Wardle, Liam Marshall; Bevan French, Harry Smith; Luke Thompson, Brad O’Neill, Sam Walters; Junior Nsemba, Liam Farrell; Kaide Ellis.

Bench: Patrick Mago, Ethan Havard, Kruise Leeming, Liam Byrne.