Catalans Dragons will learn today whether or not their captain Ben Garcia will miss the rest of the Super League season with a broken arm.
Garcia will undergo scans at a Perpignan hospital this morning (Monday) to discover the extent of the injury he received in the first half of Saturday night’s 32-30 victory over Hull Kingston Rovers.
The 28-year-old loose-forward had X-rays after the game but the full extent of the injury will only be revealed after detailed examinations today.
Coach Steve McNamara told League Express after Saturday’s match, “We’re not sure yet, but there could be a potential broken arm for Ben; we’ll get that X-rayed tonight and then he will have scans to see exactly what has happened.”
A broken arm is normally six to eight weeks out of action and any complications could mean Garcia missing the remaining eleven games of the season for the Dragons.
Catalans had to come behind for the third week in a row against a resilient Rovers side that had agreed to play a previously-postponed fixture at Stade Gilbert Brutus in place of the scheduled Castleford Tigers, who had to withdraw because of Covid cases.
The Dragons remain at the top of Super League after extending their club-record winning run to ten games, although coach McNamara was far from impressed with his team’s performance, coming back from a half-time deficit for the third time in three weeks.
McNamara added, “Of course I’m pleased with the win but I’m far from pleased with the way we played,” he said.
“We seem to have created a bit of a habit that we need to get out of very quickly.”
Catalans were 12-26 behind at the interval, largely due to an inspired kicking game by Rovers scrum-half Jordan Abdull.
McNamara added, “We just couldn’t cope with Jordan Abdull’s kicking game, we didn’t field some balls on the full that we should have and they scored the points and built up a strong lead.
“I don’t think there was anything wrong structurally, but we just couldn’t cope with Jordan’s kicks.
“There’s going to be a lot of frustration among the players and we need to work with that before our next performance.”
Meanwhile Catalans President Bernard Guasch is still holding discussions with broadcasters about live television coverage from Stade Gilbert Brutus for the remainder of the season.
There were no TV cameras at Saturday’s game for the first time this year after a deal with beIN Sports expired and there are no plans so far to televise Thursday’s fixture against Wakefield Trinity at the Brutus.
The Dragons have paid £15,000 per game so far for production costs of TV coverage this season and President Guasch has become concerned about attendance figures at the stadium.
There have been 4,800 and 5,586 supporters at the two home games since crowd restrictions were lifted, which is half the normal average attendance at the Brutus.
A club spokesman told League Express, “We knew there would be no away supporters because of quarantine rules, and local people need a health pass to attend games at the moment, so we were expecting smaller attendances.
“But we are now considering whether our payments for TV coverage are resulting in more people staying at home instead of buying tickets.”
“We are keen to keep the Dragons on TV to satisfy sponsors and maintain the profile of the club, but not if it costs so much and it hits attendances.”
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