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Warrington and Catalan face off for the second time in two months in the South of France where Daryl Powell’s men are looking for revenge from the last time these two clubs met back in round 4 where Catalan came out victorious with a 24-18 win.
Last time out for these two teams, Warrington fell short against Challenge Cup finalists Wigan Warriors whilst Catalan defeated the Castleford Tigers.
This is the second game out of three this season between these two clubs as they play each other on the Sunday of Magic Weekend.
Warrington will be hoping to kick start some form before that game in July as they have only won five and lost six already this season and sit in 7th place.
On the other hand, Catalan currently sit in 3rd place and are in position to get the home fixture in the first week of the play-offs with eight wins and three losses which have come against Hull FC, Saints and Huddersfield respectively.
Back in April 2021, these two sides battled it out in a hard-fought game in the typical southern French weather where Warrington effectively kick started their season last year with a big win that ended 24-8.
However, that game was behind closed doors and didn’t have the hostile atmosphere of the Catalan ultras with the constant booing and whistling every time the opposition have the ball. Warrington have to block out the atmosphere from the crowd like they have done so many times before if they want any shot of the play-offs and need that winning momentum going into the local rivalry against St.Helens on Thursday.
Player to watch:
We start with Mr reliable and current Man Of Steel winner, Sam Tomkins. Tomkins has missed the last couple of games with a broken leg just before easter.
However, he is set to return on Saturday evening after his record time healing period that has had him sidelined for around four-five weeks. Before his period on the sidelines, the 33-year old full-back has three assists and has kicked 17 goals with also covering 315 meters.
On the Warrington side however, I have chose the opposite full-back in Josh Thewlis. Thewlis has been filling in for Stefan Ratchford moving into the halves then getting injured, and what a brilliant job the 20-year old has done. In the eight appearances he has made so far this season, he has five tries and one try assist.
He also had a highly influential Man 0f the Match performance against Huddersfield where he scored three has given him that role which has seen the approval of the Wire supporters.
Team News:
Catalan Dragons 21-man squad:
Arthur Mourgue, Tom Davies, Fouad Yaha, Mitchell Pearce, Gil Dudson, Micky McLorum, Julian Bousquet, Matt Whitley, Benjamin Garcia, Alrix Da Costa, Benjamin Jullien, Paul Seguier, Mickeal Goudemand, Mattihieu Laguerre, Arthur Romano, Tyrone May, Dylan Napa, Jordan Dezaria, Joe Chan, Sam Kasiano, Sam Tomkins.
Catalan Dragons welcome back Sam Tomkins and NRL-bound Joe Chan back to the 21-man squad, but Mike McMeeken, Josh Drinkwater, Samisoni Langi and Dean Whare all miss out due to injury.
Warrington Wolves 21-man squad:
Matty Ashton, Joe Bullock, Josh Charnley, Daryl Clark, Jason Clark, Mike Cooper, Ben Currie, Matt Davis, Riley Dean, Oliver Holmes, Toby King, Ellis Longstaff, Billy Magoulias, Peter Mata’utia, Robbie Mulhern, Joe Philbin, Stefan Ratchford, Josh Thewlis, Danny Walker, George Williams, Connor Wrench.
Stefan Ratchford returns for Warrington having missed the last two games vs Huddersfield and Wigan, however Gareth Widdop is still out with a stomach injury whilst Greg Minkin and James Harrison are not expected be back until next month but are back into full-training.
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