CATALANS DRAGONS ran out 46-22 winners at The Jungle tonight against the Castleford Tigers in an emphatic victory.
For Catalans head coach Steve McNamara, he was very happy with an hour of the performance, but berated the last 20 minutes in which the Dragons conceded three tries.
“I thought we prepared really well and we were really focused after the last game against St Helens. We know we had underperformed here over recent years,” McNamara said.
“For the first five minutes we were slow out of the blocks but the best part of the 60 minutes I thought it was outstanding in most aspects.
“We lost him in the second tackle with an ankle injury but hopefully he will be ok for us. I thought it was the best we attacked all season. The tempo of Mitchell Pearce and Sam Tomkins was outstanding and our execution was good.”
“We were carrying the ball really strongly as well. The balance between our go forward and our edges was really good.
“We started the second-half ok, we had a lot more defending to do in the second-half and we went about that in the first 20 minutes really well but that last 20 minutes was really disappointing for us, conceding three tries in the last 20 minutes.
“I’m really happy with 60 minutes and disappointed with the last 20 but it keeps us grounded with plenty of things to work on. We need to improve, you’re not going to concede four tries in most games and win.”
Catalans do have two injury concerns with Adam Keighran and Manu Ma’u having to leave the field with ankle and shoulder/neck issues respectively.
“It was bad enough to come off, we weren’t going ton risk him. He’s damaged his ankle a little bit and we will see how he pulls up.
“Manu Ma’u took a bang to his shoulder and neck. He has a problem with his neck, not too serious but we will check it out in France.
McNamara also explains why Tom Davies didn’t play.
“Tom felt unwell on the flight over, he had diarrhoea and sickness. I think Kenny Edwards has had it this week. There is a bit of it floating around during the game.”
