Injury-Hit Catalans Dragons Suffer Fresh Blows in St Helens Defeat
In the wake of their 24-12 defeat against St Helens on Friday night, Catalans Dragons head coach Steve McNamara has confirmed three more key players have picked up injuries. This comes as a further blow to the already depleted squad, which had already been forced to make several changes due to a bruising encounter with Warrington Wolves the previous weekend.
McNamara revealed that captain Ben Garcia has sustained a calf injury, while Tariq Sims suffered a wrist issue. Additionally, the coach is unsure whether Matt Ikuvalu picked up an injury in the closing stages of the game.
The injuries to Sims and Garcia join an extensive list of absentees for the Dragons, with hooker Micky McIlorum still sidelined with an MCL injury that has kept him out for several weeks, although he is said to be progressing well. Alrix Da Costa, who suffered a concussion against Warrington, is expected to return for the next match against Leigh Leopards on June 15th.
Reflecting on the depth of the squad issues, McNamara admitted that the Dragons were “literally down to that” in terms of available players, with the matchday squad including young Frenchman Loan Castano, who had only featured once for the club prior to this outing. The head coach acknowledged that while St Helens were also missing some key players, the combined absentees from both sides would make for a “pretty strong team”.
The injury-ravaged Catalans side fought gamely, going into the break level at 6-6 after Konrad Hurrell’s try cancelled out an early score from Tom Johnstone. However, the hosts pulled away in the second half, scoring 18 unanswered points before Julian Bousquet crossed late on for the visitors.
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