As the victories keep stacking up for Catalans Dragons, so too does the belief that they can finally realise their potential in Super League after a decade of underachievement – but Laurent Frayssinous refused to be drawn on the potential his side possess despite them moving joint-top of the competition on Thursday.
The Dragons made it six wins in a row with an impressive 30-12 victory over St Helens, which also marked a fifth straight league triumph in England for the first time in their history. This is uncharted territory for Catalans, who have long suffered from a tendency to underperform in England – underlined by the fact they won just twice on their travels throughout the whole of 2015.
But even with that monkey now seemingly off their back, Frayssinous has warned against his side getting carried away by their recent form. “I will let you all think about the table,” Frayssinous insisted. “I’m not worried about the table, I’m worried about playing Salford next weekend. I want to keep focused on that for now, not where we are in the league. If we start being happy about where we are, that’s when you drop off as a group. I want us to keep improving and keep becoming a better team week in, week out.”
There is a suggestion that the Rugby Football League would struggle to sell a major event out if the men from Perpignan reached either the Grand Final or the Challenge Cup final, but with the attacking flair the Dragons are showcasing this year they must be attracting new fans on a weekly basis.
Jokingly referred to as the “Catalans Kangaroos” due to their vast number of NRL imports, the fact they had eight Frenchmen, as well as two Englishmen, in their 17 here led Frayssinous to reject that particular line of thinking, too.
“It’s an unfair statement, without doubt,” he said. “In round two we had the same team and we were hammered by Hull FC. We’ve got French guys across the field; we only talk about the ‘Kangaroos’ but the French guys are a huge part of what we do.”
Both of Frayssinous’ English imports crossed for tries here, with the former Huddersfield winger Jodie Broughton scoring four to continue his impressive start to life at the club. Broughton found opportunities hard to come by at the Giants, playing only 10 times in 2015, but his nine appearances already this year have yielded 11 tries, including this stunning quartet.
As is fast becoming the norm, all of Broughton’s impressive finishes were matched by high levels of skill in the build-up, and although his second and third came either side of a Théo Fages score for St Helens, the Dragons always looked comfortable.
Luke Walsh’s magnificent solo try right on half-time gave the Saints hope at 14-12, but when Frayssinous summoned the Australian forward Dave Taylor back from the interchange bench, the momentum swung back in the Dragons’ favour. Tries for Richie Myler and Pat Richards made the result safe, before the move of the night produced Broughton’s fourth. The play started with Richards on the opposite wing before the Dragons shifted the ball across the field in the blink of an eye to free Broughton out wide.
Whereas Catalans had a near full-strength side to pick from, the Saints are suffering from extensive injuries, and Keiron Cunningham conceded afterwards that a busy period with little opportunity to make changes may have taken its toll on his side.
“We haven’t had the luxury of rolling people, we’ve had to run with the same squad for a number of weeks,” he said. “We were that gassed, we actually looked like a side that wasn’t coached, we looked like an under-16 side running around just chucking the ball anywhere.”
St Helens McDonnell; Owens, Turner, Dawson, Spedding; Fages, Walsh; Walmsley, Roby, Savelio, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Ashworth, Wilkin. Interchange Amor, Tasi, Richards, Knowles.
Tries Fages, Walsh. Goals Walsh 2.
Catalan Dragons Gigot; Broughton, Inu, Duport, Richards; Carney, Myler; Taylor, Da Coster, Bousquet, Stewart, Anderson, Baitieri. Interchange Casty, Horo, Mounis, Bosc.
Tries Broughton 4, Myler, Richards. Goals Richards 3.
Referee R Hicks. Attendance 9,362.
