ASSISTANT coach Mitchell Pearce says Catalans Dragons are a team in “development” and urged patience from supporters.
Pearce returned to Perpignan last May before becoming a permanent part of their coaching team this season with another former Catalans star in Michael McIlorum.
That was under Joel Tomkins and alongside Ryan Sheridan, but recent upheaval has seen Tomkins depart as head coach to join rugby union’s Gloucester and Sheridan take the reins on an interim basis.
Those changes haven’t helped the Dragons settle into a season which they started with 13 new signings.
Under Sheridan they have been hugely inconsistent, following a 36-4 Challenge Cup quarter-final exit at the hands of St Helens with an impressive 38-22 home victory against Warrington Wolves.
Yet six days after beating Wire, Catalans suffered a 46-4 thrashing at Leeds Rhinos, then went on to lose 33-18 against Leigh Leopards on Saturday from a winning position.
Pearce, whose two career-closing seasons as a Dragons player culminated in a 2023 Grand Final defeat, knows the side are currently in a different position to during his first spell.
“Sometimes your performances can vary from one week to the next,” said the Australian.
“We’re a bit of a development team at the moment, we’ve got a new squad and a lot of new players.
“You don’t go out to have bad performances, but sometimes these things can happen while you’re finding out who you are as a team.”
Sheridan said of his current task: “It’s building confidence and understanding what sort of group we are.
“Players are new to the level and it’s helping them along the way to be better and get them to the standard of the competition.”