Steve McNamara responds after Catalans Dragons triple player sacking

Catalans Dragons took decisive action on Friday as they announced that they had terminated the contracts of three players after the trio displayed “highly unacceptable” behaviour.

It was a huge shock for such a final and definite decision to be made with the club confirming that the three men were Damel Diakhate, Siua Taukeiaho and Jayden Nikorima, two of whom were signed to the club just this year.

A brief statement concluded that “all Players were involved in an incident deemed to be highly unacceptable by the Club and contrary to the Club’s values.”

It was later revealed in the French press that the trio had feigned illness to miss training and attend a concert, whilst they were also no-shows at the international between France and England, something that the club had mandated players to attend.

After Catalans Dragons defeated Salford Red Devils last night, head coach Steve McNamara has made a brief comment of his own on the unique situation.

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“I don’t like the whole situation” – Catalans Dragons boss reacts to triple sacking

Catalans Dragons rounded off the Super League fixtures for Round 17 with an impressive 20-0 win over Salford Red Devils. It was a win that propelled Les Dracs above rivals Salford and into fifth place with both teams and St Helens all tied on 22 points.

McNamara spoke post-match with some of his comments available via the Catalans Dragons YouTube channel, in which he commended his side for securing the clean sheet and offered particular praise to try-scorer Arthur Romano.

However, in comments reported by Steve Brady, known on X as Catalan Media, McNamara did respond to the fact that the three men had been sacked.

Brady reported that McNamara said: “We set certain standards at this organisation which we are really proud of and if you fail to adhere to them, there is a punishment. I don’t like it, I don’t like the whole situation but it happened and we had to deal with it.”

“We set certain standards at this organisation which we are really proud of and if you fail to adhere to them, there is a punishment. I don’t like it, I don’t like the whole situation but it happened and we had to deal with it.”

Catalans coach Steve McNamara last night.
❤️💛🐉 pic.twitter.com/X2lUtwKvd8

— Catalan Media 🇨🇵 (@catalanmedia) July 14, 2024

It’s certainly a strong stance for the club to take with Catalans having earned a reputation at times for being somewhat of a holiday for overseas signings, which both Taukeiaho and Nikorima were.

Multiple former players have made such comments but players such as Sam Tomkins and Mitchell Pearce were widely credited with adjusting that culture and helping Catalans become one of Super League’s established elite.

Former Australia international Willie Mason previously told James Graham of those issues, labelling then-head coach Laurent Frayssinous as “a bit of a d**k” explaining that the pretty “loose gang” featuring Dave Taylor, Todd Carney, Krisnan Inu and Pat Richards could have won the competition but those hopes were “ruined” by the current France head coach.