Catalan eyes on Wembley
BREAK TIME: Wigan eased to victory at Catalans sold around 2,500 tickets, ensuring they will be heavily outnumbered by Warrington’s large support.
Yet McNamara, right, said: “The prices to get to London are astronomical for wealthy people, but for working-class people who live in this area…
“The efforts they are making to get there are sensational and if the game was played three hours down the road, like it is for Warrington, then I’m sure we would have 35-40,000 people going.
“It’s that popular here and the Challenge Cup means a lot to everybody in rugby league.
“Growing up with it as I did in Hull, it’s massive and that is not lost on the people of the South of France either.”
Second-rower Antoni Maria suffered a hamstring injury against Wigan and has been ruled out of the final.
Centre Brayden Wiliame suffered a neck injury but is expected to be fit while full-back Tony Gigot should feature after an ankle problem.
McNamara should also be able to bring back Remi Casty, David Mead, Benjamin Garcia and Mickael Simon after resting them against Wigan.
Title-chasing Wigan romped to victory with braces from Joe Greenwood and Morgan Escare, along with further scores from Tony Clubb and George Williams.
Catalans’ only try came from Fouad Yaha, and playmaker Samisoni Langi said: “We wanted to build some confidence going into the final, but our minds were probably elsewhere. There are no excuses and we’ll be ready to face Warrington on Saturday, as we were against St Helens in the semi-final.
“Playing at Wembley is massive and hopefully we can win the club’s first trophy.”