T’Other Side: Catalans Dragons

T’Other Side: Catalans Dragons

 

 

Head Coach: Steve McNamara

Steve McNamara became the Catalans head coach in June, succeeding Laurent Frayssinous who had been the coach since 2013. McNamara arrived after spending 2014 to 2016 as assistant coach of the Sydney Roosters and held a similar position at New Zealand Warriors for the first half of this year. He was the England national coach from 2010 to 2015. He was head coach at Bradford Bulls from 2006 to 2010.

 

As a player he was primarily a loose forward, beginning with Hull FC in 1989 going on to play for Bradford, Wakefield and Huddersfield before retiring at the end of 2003. He played 8 times for Great Britain, 5 times for England and  5 times for Great Britain U21.

 

Captain: Rémi Casty

 

Apart from the 2014 season when he played for Sydney Roosters, Rémi Casty has played for the Catalans in every season since they entered Super League in 2006. He is a powerful and highly intelligent prop forward, an ideal captain. He has made 290 appearances for the Dragons and 26 for France who he captained last year. In all that time he has never been sent off, an unusual feat for a long-serving prop forward.

 

At the back

 

Catalans signed Lewis Tierney (the son of Jason Robinson) on loan from Wigan in July when a 2 year ban for Tony Gigot, their regular fullback was confirmed. Tierney made his début for Wigan in 2014 but his first team opportunities have been very limited. In 2014 and 2015 he had loans spells with Workington Town. As a youngster he played for the England Youth and Academy sides and then last year he played on the wing for Scotland in their Four Nations matches. Australian, Brayden Williane, signed this year from Manly Sea Eagles. He is primarily a centre but also plays at fullback when required. His career in first grade began in 2013 with Parramatta Eels. He is a Fijian international. Fouad Yaha is a big powerful winger who burst into the first team in 2015. He is the nephew of Bagdad Yaha who played in Super League for Paris Saint Germain in 1996.

 

In the Halves

 

At scrumhalf, Richie Myler, joined the Dragons in 2016 from Warrington Wolves. He started with Widnes in 2007 and then played for Salford before joining the Wolves. He is joining Leeds Rhinos next year. Myler has made nine appearances for England. The regular stand-off is Australian, Luke Walsh, who came to Europe in 2014 to play for Saint Helens. He joined Catalans this year. Walsh is their principal goal kicker and the stats show that he is probably the best around this year with 82 goals from 88 attempts, a staggering success rate of 93%. Catalans also have the precociously talented Lucas Albert who is still only 19 years old and expected to become a star player of the future.

 

In the Pack

 

At hooker, Paul Aiton, is a Papua New Guinea international and captained them in the 2010 Four Nations tournament. He signed for Catalans in 2016 but spent the vast majority of last year recovering from an injury received in his first match. In England he originally joined Wakefield in 2012, moving to Leeds in 2014. In the NRL he has played for Penrith Panthers and Cronulla Sharks. Loose Forward or Second Row, Greg Bird is in his second spell with Catalans, joining them this year from Gold Coast Titans. He was previously in Perpignan in 2009. He started his career with a seven year spell at Cronulla Sharks. He has played representative matches for New South Wales, Indigenous All Stars and Australia. He is not particularly big but he’s very tough! Few prop forwards are tougher than French prop, Julian Bousquet. He is excellent at taking the ball up and is now a settled part of the Catalans team, often coming off the bench.

 

 

The Fev Connection

There aren’t any in the current squads.

Freddie Zitter who played for Fev in 2004 made two appearances for Catalans Dragons in 2006. Maxime Grésèque who also played for Rovers in 2004 played primarily for Pia which is a few miles outside Perpignan. Like Fev they were based on a small town and became a major club. Catalans wanted to sign him but, having a lucrative income as a solicitor he didn’t wish to become full-time.