Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com – 23/01/2016 – Rugby League – Friendly Match – Huddersfield Giants v Catalans Dragons – John Smith Stadium, Huddersfield, England – Catalans’ Todd Carney.
Catalans Dragons stay the only French side in Super League as soon as again following Toulouse’s transfer and they’re not there to comprise the numbers.
Upon getting in Super League the group from Perpignan had a duration whereby they couldn’t be relegated in order to develop themselves in the league.
Since then they’ve gone from strength to strength and have actually even made a Grand Final in recent years, in addition to winning the Challenge Cup and League Leaders’ Shield.
No longer do groups see Catalans on their component list and presume they’re in for a simple 2 points, the Dragons are now among the most competitive sides in Super League and Perpignan is almost a fortress from the French outift.
Testament to that is the reality that they’ve made the play-offs 3 years on the bounce, and they look set to do so once again this season as they intend to win their very first Super League title.
Speaking about their increase, previous gamer Greg Bird has actually revealed the factors behind their success and assisted to explain the big shift that had actually formerly caused half-hearted seasons, now is growing success.
Speaking with James Graham on The Bye Round Podcast, Bird was questioned about previous gamers such as Willie Mason who just 6 weeks ago described his previous Catalans head coach Laurent Frayssinous as “a bit of d**k”.
Bird said: “They had the awesome foursome there before me, which probably ruined everything in Todd Carney, Dave Taylor, Willie Mason and Justin Horro. They had a pretty loose crew and had plenty of Barcelona trips.”
That associated what Mason revealed to Graham when he explained that gamers would routinely capture a coach or flight to Barcelona for the social life throughout the week, instead of get ready for a video game.
Bird continued: “I believe they forgot they existed to play football the majority of the time, it’s a stunning location which’s what happenned in Catalans a great deal of years through that duration.
“They’d start the season so well because it’d be winter and they’d be training hard and then the beach bars open and their footy would drop off through the summer, they’d just hope they had enough points on the board to make the semis at the end of the year and limp in.”
Catalans have actually begun this season in outstanding form, winning 6 of their very first 8 video games. Despite the 2 losses, previous World Cup winner Bird thinks that the disparities of Catalans are long eliminated and he pointed out England skipper Sam Tomkins as an essential factor for that.
“That held true for a very long time however I believe they eliminated a great deal of those gamers and they sort of attempted to alter the culture and the look of what it was to bet Catalans.
“They’ve got some success there now with the similarity Sammy Tomkins, Micky McIlorum. They’d been fantastic gamers in the Super League for several years.
“They’ve got some great French lads in Ben Garcia, Julian Bousquet and a lot of those guys were really young when I was there but they’re doing great things now.”
