Interim Leigh boss Kurt Haggerty praises Catalans but believes his side can beat them at the Leigh Sports Village

Leigh Centurions’ interim head coach Kurt Haggerty has commended the work of the French side Catalans Dragons so far this campaign but believes his side can come out victorious when the two meet at the Leigh Sports Village.

Currently joint top of the Super League table, the Dragons have won seven out of their eight opening league games and could pull away from the pack with a win at Leigh courtesy of the fact that both Wigan and St Helens will no longer play this weekend, having seen their games postponed due to COVID.

In contrast, the Centurions are yet to pick up a point in Super League and sit bottom of the table. They did though come close away at Wakefield Trinity last weekend, losing 30-20 as a result of conceding two tries in the last 10 minutes. Interim boss Kurt Haggerty thinks that experience will help in the long run.

“We had a very sombre dressing room after the game [against Wakefield], but we came in the following day and broke down the game.

“There were areas where we looked really good and some areas that we need to fix up. Some of the players didn’t think so, but those areas are easy fixes, and they realise that now. Going through the game, we all realised that we are ready now to go and get that first win.

“Catalan have been fantastic, they’ve got some fantastic players and personnel so we’re going to have to be good to beat them, but we can, for sure. I’m expecting physicality and they will compete with us for 80 minutes, so we’ve got to stay with them.”

Undoubtedly, Leigh will be boosted by the fact that they are playing at home this weekend. Across their two previous seasons in the top flight, six of the club’s combined eight wins in Super League came at home.

They will be welcomed this weekend by 2,000 fans at the Leigh Sports Village and as a former player for the Centurions himself, Haggerty re-iterated how important they will be in helping to get their first win of the season.

“Being at home is an advantage as we look for that first win. We hope the fans will turn up in big numbers and with Catalan not having many fans there, every advantage is certainly going to help us push on.”

If the Centurions are to win, they must remain strong and learn from the mistakes that they committed against Wakefield Trinity and build on them against the Dragons.

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