Catalan Dragons 2023 Season Preview

Catalan Dragons look to find success once more in the Super League after taking a backwards step in 2022.

In 2017 the French outfit were nearly relegated to the Championship for the first time since they entered the Super League in 2006. A dismal season saw them having to compete in the Million Pound Game to decide whether they would survive for another year.

That season was Steve McNamara’s first as head coach at the Dragons, and since then, he has taken them on a upwards trajectory. In 2018, Catalan finished 7^th, whilst winning their first piece of major silverware in the English competition. This came in the form of the Challenge Cup.

Fast forward to 2020 and they were back in the Super League play-offs, after finishing 4^th in the league. A year later they then finished top of the tree for the first time in Super League history, becoming the first foreign side to do so. They then made it to their first ever Grand Final, but were defeated by the magnificent St. Helens side.

Last season they took a backwards step in the league, still finishing in a respectable 4^th, but being knocked out in the first round of the play-offs. In 2023 they will have aspirations of adding to their trophy cabinet.

Turning a side destined for relegation into title challengers has been quite the achievement for McNamara. He’s been speaking to the press ahead of the new campaign:

“We’ve got the scent of Super League, the smell of round one, which is just round the corner.”

Catalan have always had struggles during pre-season due to them being based outside of England. However, they were able to play the one pre-season friendly against a select French Elite One side that contained many of the clubs reserves.

McNamara was questioned after the game about how positive it was for their preparations. He said:

“It was pretty much a perfect preparation for us; it was a hard game and the conditions were really tough.

“It was important for us to play, and full credit to the French team, they gave us the type of contest and opposition we needed.

“You do all the repetition in training, you need something different from pre-season as well, and we’ve now got that.”

You would expect the big hitters in English rugby to all be flying this season, with teams squads looking as strong as ever. Therefore, Catalan will need to be on consistent top form to beat their 2022 finish.

Catalan have made some very smart additions to improve their squad over the Winter period, with NRL talent combining with quality Super League players that are already experienced at this level.

However, they have lost double the amount of players that they have signed, with 10 Winter departures. Some would call that ‘getting rid of deadwood’, or even ‘refreshing the squad’. But unless their academy products can bulk up the numbers with a similar quality, a few injuries across the course of the season could cause them a few problems.

2022 finishing position – 4th

Arrivals:

Siosiua Taukeiaho (Sydney Roosters), Manu Ma’u (Hull FC), Tom Johnstone (Wakefield Trinity), Romain Navarrete (Toulouse Olympique), Adam Keighran (Sydney Roosters)

Departures:

Gil Dudson (Warrington Wolves), Sam Kasiano (Warrington Wolves), Josh Drinkwater (Warrington Wolves), Joe Chan (Melbourne Storm), Benjamin Jullien (Pia XIII Baroudeur), Dean Whare (Pia XIII Baroudeur), Mathieu Cozza (Featherstone Rovers), Corentin Le Cam (released), Samisoni Langi (Wakefield Trinity), Dylan Napa (released)

 

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