CATALANS DRAGONS’ President Bernard Guasch wants “freshness, boldness and risk-taking” at Stade Gilbert Brutus in 2026.
The famously-fiery 65-year-old owner of Super League’s French club is showing no signs of mellowing after 20-years at the helm of the club he founded and launched into the competition in 2006.
But he has admitted that the “good old, bad old” days of bruising Catalan packs full of grizzled Aussie veterans is over, with a new coach and new approach for next season.
Speaking at length to Perpignan’s L’Indépendant newspaper, Guasch said, “Rugby League is evolving at breakneck speed. Before, it was roughness, aggressiveness, and a brutal mentality. Today the first quality is speed.”
He has given coach Joel Tomkins “carte blanche” to sign players of his choice with the only proviso that they are young and fast.
The President added, “I don’t want boom, boom any more, I want the freshness of audacity, of little kicks, of taking risks. And you can only do that with young people. I don’t want it with old people.
“We can no longer go looking for players aged 32, 33, 34, who have already been broken everywhere. Of course there are one or two who can still succeed, but it is no longer possible to make a policy of it.
“It’s the end of the cycle for this team. There will already be 14 departures and there could even be more. But it was necessary to get off to a solid start again. And this renewal will come through a strong coach, Joel Tomkins.
“He is young but with a strong character and he has to start with a clean sheet. But it is he who will write his own paper, he who will make his group, his squad.
“Recruitment is not the president’s business, the president can validate or not, but the final decision always rests with the coach.
“There, he is the one who builds and he will be judged by his choices.”
Guasch confirmed that former players Mitchell Pearce and Michael McIlorum would be joining the coaching staff next season, adding, “They will bring their experience, their charisma and a new state of mind. Three coaches aged 35 to 40 is a daring bet but I feel that we are entering a new era.”