Catalans Dragons coach Steve McNamara has admitted his team was second-best in the first game of Super League 2022.
Catalans were beaten 28-8 at the Totally Wicked Stadium in the season-opener and McNamara is taking his squad back to school this week to learn the errors of their ways.
He told League Express, “Ultimately, we were second best in certain areas.
“We arrived there with a certain intent, to go after the game and we defended really well for most of the match.
“But we let ourselves down at crucial times and we hardly got anything going in attack.”
McNamara admitted his new stand-off Mitchell Pearce had “a quiet game” at St Helens but promised the NRL star will soon begin to shine.
“We never got going in attack, we couldn’t find any rhythm whatsoever and Mitchell Pearce knows now what the standards are like.
“I know he will be outstanding for us this season and, while he had a quiet game at St Helens, so did plenty of others.”
McNamara said his Dragons will continue to play “with physicality” despite the sending off of Australian prop Dylan Napa and sin-binning of Gil Dudson at St Helens.
He added, “We turned up with intent, we wanted to be physical and that was good but it’s clear that we got some bits wrong.
“It was a brutal game, one of the most physical with the biggest contacts I’ve seen in Rugby League for a long period of time.
“We got plenty of bumps, bruises and scratches around the face, it was that kind of match.
“There was a ferocity and intensity that you expect at the top end of Super League.
“Dylan has been red-carded and he’s clearly disappointed with that. He had played very physically hard throughout the game, but in a good fashion, we can only deal with what happens next after the disciplinary on Tuesday.”
McNamara is awaiting hospital scans on a broken arm for French prop Julian Bousquet but reported no further serious injury concerns despite the withdrawal of another new Aussie recruit, Tyrone May, during the second half.
He said, “Tyrone caught a stray finger in the eye which affected his vision but luckily he’s okay.
“Every team will be sore after round one but these two in particular will be feeling it after such a tough contest.
“Julian will go for scans today (Monday) but we think he’s got something significant there unfortunately.
“It sounds pretty serious by the nature of what he is telling us but we’ll only find out the full extent once he’s been examined.”
The Catalans coach said he was expecting a better performance from his side in their first home game of the season on Saturday against Wakefield Trinity.
He added, “Our preparation for Wakefield will focus on our own areas, we’ll have a look at them this week of course but it’s important that we concentrate on what we need to improve upon.
“For any team to make the play-offs this year, consistency is the key.
“And that’s in your recovery, your preparation and your performances on the pitch.
“You will have to replace players because of injury and suspension but the crucial thing is ensuring your standards don’t drop.
“We dropped in certain areas and levels of performance against St Helens and it cost us dearly.
“Trust me, we’ll be working hard on that.”
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