TOULOUSE READY TO ENTERTAIN
Hansen: We’ll bring flair
SUPER LEAGUE warhorse Harrison Hansen believes Toulouse Olympique will bring an extra dimension to the competition in 2022.
The veteran forward, who won every honour in the game at Wigan before spells at Salford, Leigh and Widnes, scored a try in the French club’s promotion decider against Featherstone.
The team, coached by Sylvain Houles, below, have thrilled supporters at Championship level for several years with an exciting brand of attacking rugby from all over the field.
Hansen says that will remain despite the step up in class, although he admits they will have to pick their moments when facing the big guns in the competition.
The 36-year-old said: “Sylvain lets us play. If you look at the style of rugby we have, it’s good to watch and the tries that we’re capable of scoring are awesome at times.
“Coming into Super League now we know we’ve got to get that balance right, especially when we’re coming up against the harder teams.
“Even though we know we can throw the ball around and attack from anywhere, there will be times when we’ve got to rein it in and be disciplined. We’ve got a lot of players with Super League experience in the squad, which is great, and I’m confident we’ve got the team to stay up.
“We pretty much had a Super League-ready team this year, and it’s a team that’s ready to do something special and play some attractive rugby.”
They start their top-flight campaign at home to Huddersfield on February 12 and eyes are already glancing towards Easter in mid-April, when Super League’s first French derby will take place against Catalan.
Hansen added: “That’s huge for the game in France. The French atmospheres are great anyway and it should be a full house against Catalan, which will be spectacular.
“They’ve signed Mitchell Pearce and Dylan Napa so those games should be tasty. But we’ve stepped everything up in pre-season. It’s been a lot more intense and focused, especially on fitness.
“We’ve got the flair in attack and know we can defend but we can only do that in Super League if we’re a really fit team.”