Catalans Dragons must string together the positive elements of their last two performances if they are to give themselves a chance against Wigan Warriors next week.
That’s according to Dragons head coach Joel Tomkins who recorded just his second win in charge of the Perpignan outfit on Saturday night against Castleford Tigers, winning 38-4.
Catalans scored seven tries on the night against the Tigers, with Reimis Smith getting a hat-trick to help push the Dragons away from Super League’s bottom three.
However, the French side didn’t have it all their own way at the Stade Gilbert Brutus and actually spent a chunk of the first half trailing after Alfie Lindsay’s try for the Tigers on his debut.
Smith levelled the scores after 22 minutes and he grabbed a second just before the interval to ensure the Dragons went in at the break ahead. From there, they put their foot down and saw out the win in style as Smith, Fouad Yaha, Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet, Luke Keary and Alrix Da Costa all claimed second half tries.
That performance followed on from Catalans’ encouraging showing at Warrington Wolves a week prior, with the club surrendering their lead late on to eventually fall to defeat at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
The Dragons have four more games left to play this season with Wigan the opponents on Saturday in what be the club’s final home game of the year. And, Tomkins wants to see his side combine the first half showing they had at Warrington with the performance they produced in the second half against the Tigers.
Catalans Dragons boss reacts to win over Castleford Tigers
“It’s disappointing that after last week when we started the game so well against Warrington and then it’s the opposite this week,” Tomkins said after the game. “This week we were poor in the first half and good in the second half.
“If we want a chance next week against Wigan we need to take the first half against Warrington and the second half against Castleford, put them together and we might have a chance next week so we’ll see if we can do that.”
He added: “We spoke in the week about putting some smiles on faces in the crowd and in the changing rooms. The pleasing element for me was that we scored some nice tries and we gave the fans something to cheer about and get excited about. The boys are happy in the changing room, we can all be happy with the result I think tonight.”
