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The Magic Weekend has arrived and as we look ahead to another great weekend of Rugby League, there is a lot on the line for all 12 teams in the Super League with top-of-the-table clashes and relegation four-pointers happening all at St James Park in Newcastle which hosts the Magic Weekend for a record sixth time.
One of the games happening is on Sunday afternoon at 3:15 pm which on paper looks like one of the weekend games, but this season, the difference between Warrington and Catalan has been staggering. Catalan currently sits in 3rd place with 24 points and a win would send the Dragons two points behind the leader of the pack, St Helens who have 28 points.
Warrington however sit all the way down in 10th place after their abysmal season with Daryl Powell’s side only winning 6 of the possible 17 and losing in 11 of them. The Wire have a point differential of -88 which will be a problem for Powell and his side as the team above them in Leeds has a point differential of -15.
Last time out when these sides met in the South of France two months ago, the Dragons were victorious after a late wake-up call when they ran in four tries in 10 minutes with tries from Julian Bousquet, Arthur Mourge, new wire recruit Gil Dudson and Fouad Yaha getting over to win by a scoreline of 40-8.
In the last round of Super League action, Catalan beat the reigning three-peat champions by 20-18 with Arthur Laguerre, Dean Whare, Josh Drinkwater and Samisoni Langi crossing over the white line to get the win for Catalan in the heat of the south of France which closes that gap towards the top as everyone tries to chase St.Helens.
Warrington however was cruising away to victory until the last 10 minutes of the game when Salford ran riot when they scored 18 unanswered points and won by 32-24 with Jack Ormondroyd scoring two back-to-back tries and Ryan Brierley finishing off an incredible fightback for the Red Devils.
Catalans will be missing a handful of players this week due to suspensions and injuries with the likes of Mike Mcmeeken, Jordan Dezaria, Arthur Mourgue, Tom Davies, and Julian Bousquet missing out with injury and Dylan Napa, Micky McIlorum, and Sam Kasiano all facing charges and will sit out of this Sunday’s clash.
However, Warrington will be missing Mike Cooper this weekend due to illness but it will be a chance for new recruit Matty Nicholson to get his opportunity after coming to The Wire last week from Wigan. Daryl Powell will also be missing Kyle Amor again with a hamstring injury and Joe Phibin with an ACL injury. Matty Ashton and George Williams will return to the starting line-up having missed the Salford game due to injuries.
Player to watch:
For the Catalan Dragons, the player you should watch out for is Australian international and half-back Mitchell Pearce. Mitchell joined the Dragons this season having spent 10 seasons at the Sydney Roosters and four years at Newcastle Knights.
The 33-year-old has made a big impact since joining Catalan, he has been highly influential in the club’s success so far this year and a lot of pressure has been put on him as he took over the ranks of James Maloney. Pearce has scored nine tries and six assists so far this season.
On the Warrington side, I have gone for Connor Wrench, and what a breakthrough season this guy is having. With the mid-season departure of Josh Charnley. Wrench slotted right into that right-wing position and has taken his chances.
Wrench has recently signed a new contract at the club that will keep him at his hometown club until 2025. The 20-year-old has four tries in this current Super League season with him running over 810 meters.
Team News:
Catalan 21-man squad:
Samisoni Langi, Fouad Yaha, Mitchell Pearce, Josh Drinkwater, Gil Dudson, Matt Whitley, Ben Garcia, Alrix Da Costa, Benjamin Jullien, Paul Seguier, Mickeal Goudemand, Matthueu Laguerre, Arthur Romano, Tyrone May, Corentin Le Cam, Mathieu Cozza, Cesar Rouge, Romain Franco, Joe Chan, Sam Tomkins, Tiaki Chan.
Warrington 21-man squad:
Matty Ashton, Joe Bullock, Daryl Clark, Jason Clark, Ben Currie, Matt Davis, Riley Dean, James Harrison, Oliver Holmes, Peter Mata’utia, Thomas Mikaele, Greg Minikin, Robbie Mulhern, Matty Nicholson, Stefan Ratchford, Josh Thewlis, Danny Walker, Jake Wardle, Gareth Widdop, George Williams, Connor Wrench.
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