CATALANS DRAGONS will bounce into Magic Weekend “in great shape” said coach Steve McNamara after Saturday night’s golden-point 24-20 victory over Wakefield Trinity.
Les Dracs have won five from the last six fixtures and the return of Sam Tomkins from injury for Saturday’s Magic Weekend clash against Leigh Leopards will further boost the French club’s chances.
“We look in pretty good shape,” said McNamara after the Wakefield win and he pointed to the return of senior players like Reimis Smith (who scored the extra-time match-winning try) as the reason why they have climbed to seventh in the Super League table after a difficult start to the season.
He added, “It was good for those players who have been out for a while to get a game back and they actually looked short of a game as well. Players like Reimis, Nick Cotric and Elliott Whitehead were doing it tough physically at certain stages but after getting a very tough 80 minutes under their belt it will put them in a good position for next week.
“And it looks like Sam will be available too which is great for us.”
McNamara faces an interesting selection dilemma after 19-year-old Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet put in another strong performance for the Dragons at full-back against Trinity.
Chosen by Sky Sports as man-of-the-match, the young Frenchman’s star is rising at Stade Gilbert Brutus but McNamara is happy to have all options available.
He said, “Guillermo is so good we don’t actually know what his best position is yet, he can play anywhere in the backs or even loose forward.
“Hopefully he’s going to continue to get better and better, he’s a super kid and we have spoken about that before.
“He’s a talented player and still got a lot of work to do physically, technically and tactically as a young boy would have at this stage but his progression was there to be seen tonight and I thought he was very, very good for us.”
One player who will be missing at Magic for Catalans is winger Tommy Makinson who failed a head-injury assessment early in the game against Wakefield.
McNamara added, “Losing a winger early is very difficult. We had Bayley Sironen on the bench to cover at centre if needed but we had to use him early and switch Matthieu Laguerre to the wing and he did a good job for us.
“Obviously Tommy won’t be available for Newcastle under concussion protocols but thankfully, other than that, we’re in great shape.”
