The Catalans Dragons’ ninth victory of the season in the Super League (22-18 against Huddersfield) is far from reassuring, after the disappointments of the last two months. She asks questions, before the four meetings in July which will allow us to know where this team stands among its adversaries.
22-0 then 0-18. This Catalan Dragons team has still not cured its ailments. This lack of consistency in performance and collective mastery is today the group’s trademark. From a group that is swimming in troubled waters, twelve days from the end of the regular phase. There are eleven weeks of competition left, eleven weeks to try to keep this place in the Top 6, under pressure from Salford and Leeds. Today, this team is looking down towards the pursuers. She, who dominated the rankings two months ago, she who won with character in Warrington and who put together two big performances in Perpignan, against KR and St-Helens. So physical or mental wear and tear? The answer is difficult to find. In any case, for the very first time, there was no victory song on Saturday in the Gilbert-Brutus locker room after the presidential anger.
Once again, the Catalan Dragons have still not found the level they should be at. Steve McNamara, however, thought that his boys had found the right balance after the 22-0 half-time lead. “We had a very good performance in the first half. We were dominant and connected with each other. We executed our last chains of downs very well unlike previous weeks. It was fluid and synchronized and that shows the kind of team we can be”summarized the coach, obliged to note that: “The second half also shows the kind of team we can be and that’s the team we’ve been the last five to six weeks in a lot of areas.”. Once again, we asked Steve McNamara. How does he explain this turnaround? “The fundamentals were not respected after the break and we missed our final phases of play. Huddersfield gained confidence with some clever and sometimes lucky kicks. They took possession and from there the doubts of in recent weeks I found players anxious and nervous at the end of the match, but we did what was necessary to win this match..
The Catalan Dragons, beyond being connected to an alternating current, can no longer do so. The alternation is not good between the two sides, nor are the connections. Certainly, the Dracs have returned and it is difficult to project oneself with optimism while maintaining all objectivity. This team has added collective sessions, there have been speaking engagements, more intensity and application over the past week. Few things have evolved in the right direction, in any case, no one can be satisfied with the first forty minutes, easily masked by the sequence of events.
The four meetings in July will be decisive for the future with KR and Castleford in England and Salford and Hull FC in Perpignan. Two of the four oppositions against lower ranked teams. It will be easier to know where the Dragons stand in 2024 based on their July career. But today, the questions remain and collectively, nothing changes in the team and in a staff which sticks to its convictions and its choices.
