CATALANS DRAGONS interim coach Joel Tomkins was pleased to see improvement from his side but said there’s still a long way to go after Leigh Leopards inflicted their seventh straight defeat.
Tomkins said: “It was a big improvement for us. Obviously we’re not happy with the result, and I wasn’t happy with large elements of the game.
“Our effort and attitude was good, our application at times during the game we need to improve on though.
“We made some dumb decisions in both attack and defence but we asked for a better attitude and more effort this week and I certainly think that we got that.
“We made some silly decisions and errors, we went 26 minutes in the first half without a mistake which is probably our best start to a game this season.
“That gave us some energy but towards the back end of each half we made wrong decisions with the ball and defensively coming out of the system and trying to kill plays and not quite making those tackles.
“There is a lot for us to work on. We will take the positives but I am not happy with the performance.
“We had to improve on last week’s performance (at Hull KR), it would have been impossible not to.
“I challenged the players as men before the game, I said as a group of men we have got to go out on the field and regain some pride in the badge and individually.
“Last week at Hull KR we walked off the field embarrassed and this week we have probably gained a little bit of pride.
“But we’ve got a way to go before we are anywhere near where we need to be.”
Tomkins also rued a decisive moment in the second half when, with the scores level, Leigh’s Joe Ofahengaue scored moments after a penalty attempt bounced off a post.
“Goalkicking in rugby league is an afterthought sometimes and tonight we got taught a lesson on how important it is,” he said.
“The momentum shift on the second penalty where he (Tommy Makinson) hits the post and they regather compared to Leigh’s penalty where they hit the post and they got the ball back can really shift games.”