Catalans Dragons’ season is now officially over after their side were hammered by the reigning champions last night.
The Dragons took the lead through a penalty goal on five minutes but failed to register any further points as Saints dominated the majority of the game with an attacking masterclass.
McNamara said: “They are one of the best two teams in the competition and they’ve been the best team in the competition for the last three years. We’re all trying to strive to get to that consistency and standard on a week in, week out basis.”
“I think they played tremendous semi-final football. When we got field position, the scoreboard had probably already gone.”
A crucial aspect of play-off games is discipline, something which Catalans lacked throughout the game’s entirety as they conceded a number of avoidable penalties.
James Maloney was shown a yellow card for a high shot on Regan Grace, a moment which opened the floodgates for Saints, and Ben Garcia was sinbinned in the second half for contact with the head on Jonny Lomax.
“I don’t think that, at semi-final football, they [sinbins] were obvious. Everyone says that they love Origin, the physicality of it and how it sometimes goes over the top. In semi-final footy, the stakes are high and sometimes, some of the tackles do slip up a bit,” said McNamara.
“I did think the second one in particular [to Ben Garcia] wasn’t a sinbin.”
