STEVE McNAMARA said he did not see his dismissal by Catalans Dragons coming.

The former England boss was given his marching orders from the French club in May, ending eight years at the Stade Gilbert Brutus which brought a Challenge Cup title and two Super League Grand Final appearances.

It took more than a month for the Dragons to make any statement on McNamara’s departure while the coach has now spoken for the first time on the Super League Raw podcast.

“I’ve had some good moments and some not-so-good moments but it was an extremely difficult period,” he said.

“We’d won six from seven then lost at Magic (Weekend) by two points to Leigh. We stayed in England to try and prepare the best that we could for that semi-final (in the Challenge Cup, beaten by Hull KR) and at half-time were right in it, but second half we weren’t good enough.

“Then we flew home, which was my decision. We could have stayed between the semi-final and the Saints game but I wanted to give us the best chance to win the semi-final.

“We flew home pretty despondent and then had to fly back three days after (for Saints) who were probably despondent themselves.

“I remember pre-match, all the talk was about (their coach) Paul Wellens and post-match it flipped to me.

“Then obviously the following week, Bernard (Guasch, owner) informed me that my time was up.

“I didn’t have an inkling but it happens and it’s a part of being a coach and you’ve got to expect that.”

McNamara revealed that the end of his era at Catalans was “like a death”, adding: “You invest your whole life into a job like this.

“You can’t dip your toe in, you go all in. I’ve had the best journey for a few weeks short of eight years. If you’d told me the day I signed for them that we’d done this, achieved that and that I’d last eight years then I’d have snapped your hand off.

“When it comes to that point, it’s like a death in some regards. You’ve invested everything and worked so well together but it comes to an end. All good things come to an end at some point.”