The Dragons are on the hunt for two new players – with Joel Tomkins providing a recruitment update.
Catalans Dragons head coach Joel Tomkins.(Image: SW PIX)
Catalans Dragons head coach Joel Tomkins has teased two more new signings following Friday’s opening Super League round victory over Huddersfield Giants.
The Dragons were good value in Perpignan, proving too strong for the Giants to run out 26-10 winners at a rain-soaked Stade Gilbert Brutus.
Debuting many of their new recruits, Toby Sexton was paired alongside Lewis Dodd in the halves, with Charlie Staines taking the Man of the Match award from full-back.
Outside back Solomona Faataape also impressed, scoring the game’s final try after earlier efforts from Ben Condon, Staines, and Tommy Makinson.
And Catalans – up and running this year – are now set to add to their squad in the near future, with Tomkins confirming a winger is on the radar – albeit not over the line yet.
The French club are out for a replacement for Manase Kaho, who has cruelly been ruled out for the full 2026 season with an ACL injury. That replacement has been reported by Love Rugby League to be Matty Russell, who is currently with Championship outfit Oldham.
Tomkins also confirmed that the club may seek out a forward to replace the injured Franck Maria.
“We’ve lost Manase for 12 months and he was a big part of our plans so we’re definitely looking at bringing someone in as a replacement,” Tomkins said. “We’ve also lost Franck Maria so we might look at bringing someone in to cover that spot as well.
“I don’t think anything has been confirmed yet so I can’t confirm that but that’s what we will be doing.”
Recruiting ‘lesser known’ players this year, Catalans have plenty of salary cap space to work with in 2026, having opted not to utilise the full cap.
They are instead footing a bill believed to be nearly £1 million for opposition team travel to the South of France.
“We had to change our recruitment strategy,” Tomkins explained. “We haven’t got the resources that we’ve had in years gone by because of the constraints put on the club with paying for away team travel.
“We’re playing to a reduced salary cap this year so we had to think of a different way of recruiting and we looked at the Queensland Cup and the New South Wales Cup and players in their early 20s who want to come to Super League and make a name for themselves.”
Those players certainly did that in the opening round. Praising his side after victory, Tomkins added: “What we’ve lost in experience and the big names, we’ve definitely gained in enthusiasm and I thought that showed.
“The way we started the game in those first 20 minutes was outstanding and that’s what we wanted from our boys.”
