Israel Folau - gone and soon to be forgotten

This website, its fair to say, took a bit of stick for our strong stance on Israel Folau. 

We raised money for DE&I charity and boycotted club merchandise to show our disapproval at the club signing Folau. 

There were people who defended the clubs right to sign him and the players right to play. We respected that view, even if it didn't align with ours. 

And whilst we could look smugly at them right now and utter the words "told you so", that wouldn't be helpful. 

One thing we will remain firm on is that the club deserves limited amounts of sympathy now that he has downed tools and decided to head to the court room (yet again). 

This was always going to end in tears. Always. If those in the corridors of power at Stade Gilbert Brutus didn't consider or allow for that, then we have a problem. 

So whilst it would be nice to think that a transfer fee is coming to Perpignan to compensate Dragons for the loss of the player, I wouldn't be betting on that. 

Catalans Dragons have been used by Israel Folau and if he gets away with joining Southport Tigers on the sly by getting out of his existing contract, Bernard and Steve Mc will be left to look daft. 

When you look at the club taking risks on NRL bad boys you could argue that for every Greg Bird there was a Willie Mason, Todd Carney, Dave Taylor and so on. 

Signing Folau was on a whole different level and will now be seen as a disaster. 

We would like to think that he will be officially gone from our club as soon as contracts and severence allow and that we as fans can move on from this. 

The club should learn from this and not jump in straight away to try and re-ignite the careers of the wayward fading stars from down under. 

Catalans Dragons 20 - 16 St Helens

A big performance from Jimmy Maloney saw Catalans survive a late comeback to beat St Helens in Perpignan over the weekend. 

Maloney scored a try and kicked 4 goals/penalties from the tee to end with 12 points out of our total of 20 and scoop up player of the match awards. 

Having established what looked a decent enough lead to see the game home, the visitors stunned the returning crowds at Stade Gilbert Brutus with Mark Percival and Regan Grace crossing late on. 

But it was too little too late and the home side staked a claim for performance of the week in Superleague. 

Dragons Catalans (8) 20

T : James Maloney, Dean Whare, Benjamin Jullien

G : James Maloney 4

St Helens (2) 16

T : Mark Percival 2, Regan Grace

G : Lachlan Coote 2

Dragons : Mourgue, Davies, Whare, Laguerre, Yaha, Maloney, Drinkwater, Dudson, McIlorum, Bousquet, Jullien, McMeeken, Garcia

Subs : Da Costa, Goudemand, J.Tomkins,  Kasiano

Saints : Coote, Naiqama, Percival, Welsby, Grace, Lomax, Fages, Paasi, Roby, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Mata’utia, Thompson, Knowles

Subs : Walmsley, Amor, Batchelor, Dodd

Stadium : Gilbert Brutus

Referee : Robert Hicks

Lezignan 22 - 20 St Esteve

 Lézignan (12) 22

T : Stacul, Lacans, Maria

G : Marginet 5

St Estève XIII Catalan (10) 20

T : Franco, Jobe, Flovie, Cozza

G : Brochon 2

St Esteve proved their recent patchy form wasn't just a blip by losing again over the weekend. 

This loss to Lezignan sees them drop to 4th in the table with the regular season now being over. 

Their route to the finals will now be much harder, but more importantly Justin Murphy will need to get a big performance and result out of his men. 

Dragons threaten Folau with legal action

 This is moving fast isn' it...

After his unveiling at a tense press conference, Folau has is a Southport Tigers player. 

Click here to read Alex Chan's stance on this fact our player is likely to be turning out for another club on the other side of world. 

Hull FC 10-27 Catalans Dragons

 Hull FC (4) 10

T : Mahe Fonua, Josh Reynolds

G : Marc Sneyd

Catalans Dragons (4) 27

T : Sam Kasiano, Mike McMeeken, Tom Davies 2

G : James Maloney 4, Arthur Mourgue

DG : James Maloney

Hooray !!! 

Dragons got one over Hull at the KC for the second season running and showed that their fitness is in a good place by accelerating the score board late on. 

They were behind before a lucky bounce/perfect kick came back off the posts and into the considerable midriff of Big Sam before he dropped over the line. 

Hull were in this before some late magic on the right edge saw Tom Davies fly high and score twice. 

Villeneuve 22-8 St Esteve

 Villeneuve (8) 22

T : Vergniol, Brioux, Robin

G : Lasvesnes 4

St Estève XIII Catalan (0) 8

T : Zafra, Jobe

G : 

A shock defeat for St Esteve over the weekend with a confident home performance by Villeneuve enough to see them over the line for a comfortable win. 

Villeneuve :  Lasvesnes, Bachoukh, Brioux, Tuitahi, Nicolas, Kriouache, Robin, Pettybourne, Godinet, Masselot, Vergniol, Benouahab, Biscarro

Subs :Gautier, Coutinho, Mika, Tabu

St Estève XIII Catalan : Franco, Zenon, Carré, Laurent, Jobe, Zafra, Rougé, Cozza, Meresta-Doucet, Dezaria, Goffin, Le Cam, Perez

Subs : Llong, Khedimi, Vailhen, Scimone

2 defeats in a row isn't enough to press the panic button just yet, but there will be some raised eyebrow at our form as the play offs loom. 

Folau joins Southport Tigers

 A lot of media outlets are going big on Southport Tigers in Australia having signed Israel Folau. 

Earlier in the week there was talk of him returning to France but this looks to have put paid to that. 

Read the full story here. 

I think there will be very few people, even within our club, who will be surprised that this whole thing has ended in tears. 

At least my boycott on club merchandise and going to games can now be lifted. 

Dragons 6-16 Warrington (Challenge Cup)

 Catalans march to the arch has ended at the hands of vodoo team Warrington Wolves. 

The match was actually closer than we'd anticipated with injury and travel starting to look like it was taking a toll on the men from Perpignan. 

Dragons Catalans (0) 6

T : Mike McMeeken

G : James Maloney

Warrington Wolves (14) 16

T : Daryl Clark 2

G : Gareth Widdop 4

It was actually a slow start rather than late game fatigue that did for the Dracs with a 14 point half time margin too big a leap to get over. 

Being honest, the cup was our only real chance of a trophy this season with continued disruption and changes to schedules as a result of Covid. 

So I am having to give my head a shake and tell myself its not season over in early May. 

St Esteve 30-38 Avignon

 St Estève XIII Catalan (6) 30

T : Jobe, Le Cam, Baby, Rougé, Perez

G : Brochon 5

Avignon (18) 38

T : Pourret, Rey, Demonte, F. Jullien, Bissière, Moran

G : Rey 7

A rare defeat for St Esteve as Avignon came to Perpignan and took the competition points with a clever display. 

In terms of the play offs this won't be too damaging but after a couple of postponed matches this will have been a wake up call. 

For RL fans in Lincolnshire

 

I am a massive advocate of supporting your local club and now I live in Lincolnshire, the Boston Buccaneers are my team.

After 2020 being a write off, this is a great opportunity for fans to get out and support some live match action. 

So if you have the chance, please get alone and support the Buccs this season. 

Use the contact form on the left of this website homepage if you want to know more. 

Wakefield Trinity 18-38 Catalans Dragons

 It was a case of back to business for Dragons with a decent win over Wakefield at the Mobile Rocket Stadium. 

Tom Davies scored the same try three times, being back up by Dean Whare with a couple to see off a spirited Trin'. 

The home side were in the match until the last quarter so it's nice to see that we dug out a result away from home, especially so after the error strewn defeat to Warrington the week before. 

Wakefield Trinity (12) 18

T : Oliver Ashall-Bott, Max Jowitt, Reece Lyne

G : Mason Lino (3)

Catalans Dragons (20) 38

T : Tom Davies (3), Mike McMeeken, Dean Whare (2), Samisoni Langi

G : James Maloney (5)

Wakefield : Ashall-Bott, Kershaw, Tupou, Lyne, Kay, Lino, Jowitt, Green, Wood, Tanginoa, Batchelor, Pitts, Westerman

Subs : Eaves, Arona, Fifita, Battye

Dragons : S.Tomkins, Davies, Whare, Langi, Yaha, Maloney, Drinkwater, Dudson, McIlorum, Bousquet, Séguier, McMeeken, Garcia

Subs : Mourgue, J.Tomkins, Baitieri, Dezaria

Stadium : Mobile Rocket Stadium

Referee : Chris Kendall