The Story Of 2023…
It was a case of fermer mais pas de cigare for Steve McNamara’s side as their second Grand Final appearance in three seasons ended in another defeat. Eighteen years into their Super League journey a title still eludes the Dragons whose only trophy successes have come in the Challenge Cup in 2018 and in winning the League Leaders Shield two years ago.
The latter eluded them in 2023, though it went down to the last weekend of the regular season with Wigan and Saints also in contention. In the end it was Matty Peet’s side who took the honour, but only on points difference as all of the top three managed 20 wins from their 27 regular season outings. It might have been different for the French side had former Wigan man Oliver Gildart’s try for Leigh Leopards been allowed to stand rather than being nefariously ruled out for an obstruction.
The campaign started well for Catalans with five wins on the spin including an 18-10 victory over the Warriors at the DW in early March. Defeat was not tasted until the end of the month when Leeds Rhinos enjoyed a rare 2023 high with a 32-22 win at Headingley. After a home win over Castleford three more losses in a row followed as all of Warrington, Huddersfield and Salford got the better of McNamara’s men. A 24-12 home win over Saints on May 5 was arguably a turning point in the Dragons’ season. At the very least it was the moment when they announced themselves as a genuine contender.
That was one of seven league wins in a row, including an even more comprehensive 46-22 gubbing of Wigan on their own patch. I know…it’s not their own but you know what I mean? Bizarrely, the winning sequence was ended by a second loss to Huddersfield of the season on July 8. You’d have been forgiven for thinking that Ian Watson had some kind of blackmail-worthy leverage on McNamara based on results between the two coaches’ sides.
Wigan would gain a measure of revenge - the real kicker would come in October - with an unfathomable 34-0 win in Perpignan in August. Yet other than that only Hull KR would get the better of Catalans in Super League in the final nine regular season matches following that second reverse to the Giants. The only other major disappointment to that point had been a 16-14 Challenge Cup exit to Warrington in the last 16. Who wouldn’t be disappointed to lose to Warrington, after all?
Though they couldn’t overhaul Wigan the Dragons’ points difference advantage over Saints would prove crucial in getting them to Old Trafford. It meant that they secured a place in the top two. That achievement came with a week off while Saints had to indulge their habit of beating Warrington at home. It also meant that it would be Saints rather than the Dragons who would have to cross the channel when the pair faced off in the semi-final.
Most of my readership are of a Saints persuasion so they won’t want me to dwell on the events of that game. Particularly not the dying moments of it when Sam Tomkins eschewed the opportunity for a potential game-winning drop-goal and instead removed all doubt by slicing through an over-committed Saints rearguard. In so doing he ensured that it would be he and not James Roby who would get to extend his glorious career by one more game.
When it did end a week later it was Tomkins’ old club who ensured that it would be in disappointment. Wigan’s 10-2 win was a dire spectacle - particularly viewed from this side of Billinge Hill - but it also shone a light on the Dragons’ inability to get over the line in the biggest game of all when the level of intensity puts points at a premium. Though they had reached two Grand Finals in three seasons they had posted only 12 points across those two encounters. They had conceded only 22, so it seems clear where they need to improve if and when they get another shot.
The 2024 Recruits
The Dragons have recruited relatively well from the NRL in recent years and have brought in another trio from the Australasian competition ahead of this campaign. Tariq Sims is 33 now but is a veteran of over 230 NRL appearances across spells with North Queensland Cowboys, Newcastle Knights, St George-Illawarra Dragons and Melbourne Storm. He appeared 15 times for Craig Bellamy’s outfit in 2023 and will look to boost McNamara’s options in all areas of the pack. Brothers Korbin and Ashton have already enjoyed stints in Super League.
Joining Sims in Perpignan will be another man with a brother currently succeeding in Super League. Bayley Sironen is the younger brother of Saints man Curtis, who has already won a Grand Final and a World Club Challenge in his first two seasons in England. Bayley heads to France from New Zealand Warriors after 57 appearances in three seasons. Prior to that he turned out for Wests Tigers and South Sydney Rabbitohs. Like Curtis he’s a skilful back rower with size who should go well in Super League. The sibling theme continues with Jayden Nikorima - brother of Dolphins’ former Sydney Roosters stand-off Kodi - also brought in. Like Kodi he operates at six. Unlike Kodi he has been somewhat in the wilderness of late, managing just one appearance for the Storm and just two across his two seasons in Victoria.
McNamara has also been shopping in the UK. Chris Satae established himself as one of the best impact front rowers in Super League during a four-season stint at Hull FC. At 31 he has left the black and whites behind to arguably give himself a better shot at the main prizes in the game at the back end of his career. The other two domestic acquisitions are halfbacks. Following Mitchell Pearce’s retirement and Tyrone May’s move to Hull KR there is a need for some midfield creativity. McNamara has put his faith in former Salford, Saints and Huddersfield man Theo Fages to provide it along with Jordan Abdull who is initially on loan from Hull KR.
So Who’s Out?
Along with the retired pair of Tomkins and Pearce as well as May there are other pillars of the 2023 side who will be plying their trade elsewhere in 2024. Wigan have been on a particularly Madeley-esque trolley dash and have plundered the Dragons for both Adam Keighran and Tiaki Chan. Keighran is an excellent goal-kicking centre - as if you needed telling after his performance against Saints in the semi-final - while Chan will add to the Warriors’ all new front row options which now include former Saints Grand Final winner Luke Thompson, highly rated ex-Leeds Rhino Sam Walters and Tyler Dupree who joins from Salford Reds. Chan is the son of ex-Dragon Alex. Tiaki made only 13 appearances for the Catalans side last year with another four on loan at Toulouse in the Championship. With those present and future internationals ahead of him in the pecking order he may struggle for game time again.
Back rower Mikael Goudemand is another who didn’t always feature for McNamara’s side in 2023. He made 17 appearances but like Chan missed that Grand Final defeat. He is now residing at Leeds after six seasons in Perpignan left him one short of a century of appearances.
The Grand Final was one of only seven matches in 2023 in which Sio Siua Taukeiaho wore the red, white and yellow. He arrived in the UK with a massive reputation having been one of the premier front rowers in the NRL in 10 seasons with Sydney Roosters. The 32 year-old failed to make the expected impact in Super League and was released at the end of his one and only campaign with the club.
Which only leaves Matt Whitley. Originally a Sintelliner the former Widnes back rower has had to wait until the age of 27 to get a shot at representing his hometown club. The trouble is he joins Saints at a time when Paul Wellens’ side have more back rowers than seems sensible for any club operating under a salary cap. Can Whitley force his way in ahead of one of Sione Mata’utia, Joe Batchelor or Curtis Sironen? And whither Sam Royle? With Waqa Blake arriving might Konrad Hurrell also be in contention for a move to that area of the pack? Better stop this speculation now in the event that a Dragons fan might actually read this and feel somewhat aggrieved that it is becoming more about Saints.
What’s The Expectation?
Despite a high turnover of players and in some key positions there won’t be anyone at the Perpignan club who doesn’t believe that they can not only get back to Old Trafford for what would be a third time in four seasons but also that they can go one better and win. With Tomkins gone perhaps Arthur Mourgue now has the way clear to become the superstar he has often threatened to be, while in Tom Davies and Tom Johnstone the Dragons have two of the game’s finest wingers. Much will depend on how seamlessly or otherwise Fages, Abdull and Nikorima can fit in as the midfield pairing though I can’t help feeling it would have been wise to add a centre to replace Keighran. Matt Ikuvalu could be a solution but in all likelihood it’s going to be a big year for Matthieu Laguerre.
In the pack Whitley and Goudemand are significant losses so Bayley Sironen and Tariq Sims will be key along with Satae. Questions should also be asked of how much is left in the tank of 36 year-old Micky McIlorum. Not that age will prevent Shaun Wane from picking the ex-Wigan hooker for his England World Cup squad in 2045.
What Will Really Happen?
Super League hasn’t been given a massive shot of quality overnight so even a Dragons squad which might be a little bit off their 2023 standards should be good enough to make the playoffs. A good start would help create confidence and should be possible given the schedule. In the first six weeks the Dragons twice face a Warrington side still adjusting to the coaching methods of the untried Sam Burgess - or whoever replaces him when he is sacked - before getting to make acquaintances again with underachievers like Hull FC, Castleford and Leeds along with newly promoted and already doomed London Broncos.
FC, London and Leeds feature in the Dragons’ final six fixtures two, with Wigan the only real worry during the run-in. Like Warrington in 2023, it could be the bit in the middle which causes McNamara the most headaches.
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