CATALANS’ 22-16 victory over Leigh was the perfect tonic for head coach Joel Tomkins, following the heavy St Helens defeat six days earlier.
The Dragons put in an almighty effort to keep a determined Leigh side from levelling late on, after the Leopards had clawed back the French side’s ten-point lead.
Catalans were leading 20-10, thanks to tries from Harvey Wilson, Charlie Staines and Lewis Dodd and a Sexton penalty, and managed to survive a late Leopards assault, which delighted Tomkins.
“That was the response we were all hoping for,” said the Dragons boss. “It was probably better than I expected, If I am honest.
“I knew we would respond (to last week) in some way, but that last ten minutes was very, very pleasing.
“In that last ten-minute spell, Leigh threw everything at us and they have some dangerous players.
“If somebody missed a tackle, there was somebody else turning up. Even when Leigh scored, in every picture we had people chasing back.
“All the signs were there for us. If we would have lost the game, I’d have still been really proud of the boys.”