Barcelona revisited

It's official. We're off to Barcelona.

Certains rêves deviennent réalité 🐉#CampNou2019 pic.twitter.com/ODoWubSiTU

— Dragons Catalans 🏆 (@DragonsOfficiel) November 30, 2018

May 18, Dragons v Wigan, at the legendary home of FC Barcelona.

Obviously we've been to the city before, to the former home of Espanyol and of the 1992 Olympics up on the hill at Montjuic where just short of 20,000 people saw Warrington win a tough game on a humid night before getting stuck into the beers and paella. (And you getting heatstroke, Dobson - Ed)

20,000, it seems needless to say, will look lost inside the Nou Camp which seats just under a hundred thousand. The club - and their Wigan counterparts - have it all to do to sell this to the wider Barcelona public. For our part, we're getting the passports renewed now while we think on. This is one not to be missed.

Dragons tease us with Tweet...

Tic Tac Tic Tac... 👀🕜 pic.twitter.com/ifxgiBc738

— Dragons Catalans 🏆 (@DragonsOfficiel) November 29, 2018

Gelling-gate is a thing...

Anthony Gelling was linked with Catalans last season before signing a contract to appear for Widnes Vikings over the next three seasons, we believe.

However reports of the Dragons desire to sign the player wont go away leading Widnes to issue a statement confirming that he is on contract with them and expected to report for pre-season.

He was a pretty decent player at Wigan a couple of seasons back and will probably not be too keen to appear in the Championship.

However a deals a deal and if he has signed with Widnes this could get messy if Catalans do want him.

My feeling is that his agent will try and get him out of his Widnes contract citing their relegation as a circumstance. If that fails I suspect Dragons will need to pay a fee to secure him compensating Widnes. But sport being sport I don't see us offering money until we need to!

Closure of roads delays season opener

The domestic league Elite1 started over the weekend, a couple of weeks behind the French second tier.

However St Esteve were denied by road closures leading the mutual agreement with Albi to postpone.

This weekend we will belatedly kick off the season at Limoux.

Our adopted French league second team Palau Broncos were also hit by the chaos with their encounter at Toulouse also postponed.

Pomeroy back to play Elite 1

Catalans have resigned Aussie Ben Pomeroy latterly of Warrington Wolves.

The red card machine will boost the average age of the clubs Elite 1 players which is currently in the early 20s.

Welcome back Ben.

Get Dracs gear from O'Neills...

The link is live for the O'Neills Catalans Dragons store.

Click here

Additions to the coaching staff

Jonathan Jones has joined Dragons from Everton and will take up the role of Assistant strength and conditioning coach under Rich Hunswicks.

This afternoon it has been announced that former Widnes man Eammon O'Carroll has joined as assistant to Steve McNamara. Whether this means a change in role for Thomas Bosc, I don't know.

On the playing front there are reports that despite massive interest from back in the NRL, Kenny Edwards has agreed to see out the remaining year on his contract.

Anfield date with Wakefield

Catalans will play Wakefield Trinity at the 2019 Magic Weekend.

The match is on 25th May.

Palau win pre-season tournament

Wins over Catalans and Limoux saw Palau Broncos crowned the winners of the Ambert Challenge pre-season competition in Pia.

Coached by ex-Dragons legend, Olivier Elima the Broncos will be keen to improve on their Elite 1 performances this season with the club aiming for the top three.

Click here for Palau website

UPDATED - here are the highlights from the Catalans Dragons website.

2019 Super League Fixtures Released

from Catalans Dragons official website.

For more click here.

Its going to be a tough start for Dragons who face Castleford away in the opening weekend.

The first home match is against the rejuvinated Huddersfield Giants before another tough trip back over to the UK to face Wakefield.

This will all be before the end of February when the pitches and temperature will most likely bring out the worst of the Dracs and we might see some meek surrenders!

You never know though of course and it would be a great start to the season should we get much out of those games.

Dragons kick off their domestic preparations this coming Friday

The French league side of the Catalans club will start their Elite 1 preparations this Friday in a glittering three way tournament with local rivals Limoux and Palau.

Hosted by the Pia club, the three sides will play single halved matches against both sides with Palau vs Limoux in the middle.

Click here to read about the competition on the clubs official website.

It will be interesting to see how all three go ahead of the season starting.

We will bring you the scores once we get them.

Dragons release 2019 kits (Updated with O'neills launch video)

Catalans Dragons have released their first Oneills kits this evening.

The Irish manufacturer has taken over from long term supplier ISC. For me this is the nicest kit since the second one the club had all those years ago.

I am a traditionalist so the inclusion of a proper button collar is very welcome indeed. The famous Sang-et-Or is well used and despite those who will compare our home kit to St Helens, I feel they are different enough to stand out.

The away kit is a nice departure from some of the terrible colour combinations we had in the latter days of ISC. Blue and Salmon anyone ?

So... which of the two will I be buying tomorrow when the online store opens?




Probably both !

05.11.2018 A new chapter for @DragonsOfficiel and @ONeills1918 begins. 🐉🔥 pic.twitter.com/0ypPi0jhwk

— O'Neills (@ONeills1918) November 5, 2018