Catalans Dragons have ended the season strongly, with four wins from their final six matches, one of which came against Hull FC last night.
The Dragons season has been over for a while, after a poor start to the campaign left them with too much to do to make a playoff charge. Hull FC, however, were still in with a chance at the top six, but needed a victory over the Perpignan outfit to keep their finals hopes alive.
However, for the second week running, Catalans have caused chaos in the top six battle, as they followed up their win over Leeds Rhinos last week with another two points last night.
Speaking after the 26-22 victory, head coach Joel Tomkins was delighted with his sides’ performance, in what was another great showing to end the season.
He told Sky Sports after the game: “We’ve definitely seen some more effort and attitude in these last probably six weeks, but we didn’t make it easy for ourselves again tonight. I can’t fault the effort, the desire, the will to defend, and that’s all I’ve asked for since day one, since I took over. It’s nothing about anything technical. it’s just about turning up for each other and I think that’s what wins you games, especially the big games.
“We’ve definitely taken some steps in the right direction. We’ll be a new group next year, but we’ll definitely want to carry some of those things over that we’ve done in the last few weeks.
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His side have had nothing but pride to play for over the last month or so, but Tomkins cannot fault his team’s desire to compete, with their efforts paying off against sides whose season’s were still on the line.
“The last two weeks, we’ve come up against teams who have had a lot to play for. We’ve not really had anything to play for apart from each other and the boys who are moving on at the end of the season. We’ve got some boys who are retiring on the back of tonight, and we’ve got some who’ll be moving on to new teams next year. They found their own motivation. I was banging on about it probably six to eight weeks ago. They’ve got to find personal motivation and play for personal pride, and I think they’ve certainly done that these last couple of weeks.”
Asked about how they now prepare for 2026, the former Wigan Warriors man revealed plans were already in motion for the next campaign, as highlighted by the announced signings of Charlie Staines and Toby Sexton. Tomkins has kept one eye on next year, with team selection towards the back end of the year partly down to who will remain with them next season. Tomkins revealed he won’t be having any time off just yet, with things still to do before he gets chance for a breather.
He said: “We’ve been planning for next year for probably the last six weeks since the playoffs were unreachable for us, so we’ll be in next week as staff and then we’ll take a break. But, we’ll be in next week. We’ll do some reviews with the boys and then we’ll take a break. I think we need it, myself and Ryan Sheridan as well.”
