Macca: Team competed well
NEW Catalans Dragons coach Steve McNamara felt his side showed plenty of improvement in the 24-16 Betfred Super League defeat at Warrington and believes he has plenty to work with.
Former England and Bradford boss and Huddersfield Giants skipper McNamara made the move from the New Zealand Warriors to the south of France this week on a two-and-a-half year contract – but there was no dream start at the Halliwell Jones stadium.
Two tries from former Wolves halfback Richie Myler saw the Dragons trail by just two points at 18-16 deep into the game, but Andre Savelio’s late try made sure of victory for the hosts.
McNamara said: “To see us compete and give ourselves a chance of winning the game up until the last three or four minutes means we have moved a step in the right direction. It’s only one step and a small step but it’s certainly a right step.
“It was a tough start, not the highest quality of games, but I saw a side that showed a lot more resilience than over the last couple of weeks and managed to stay in the contest.
“I enjoyed being back in the Super League environment, the opportunity came up to coach Catalans and I was really keen to do so, it’s a good club and a club with big ambitions and I’m hoping to fulfil those.
“It’s been a whirIwind to be honest. I arrived late Tuesday afternoon, took a practice session on Wednesday and a captain’s run so there was not a lot I could implement, but we had some good conversations and we went some way to doing some of the things we talked about doing.
“Thie biggest thing is we need Improve our discipline, not just penalties but in possession as well and the biggest area is in defence you need to defend well to win games and that’s what the team has not been able to do this season. That’s an area I will be focusing very hard on.
“Whenever you change coach things aren’t going great - so you see and feel the pressure players are under and part of a coach’s job is to take the pressure off them and let them go out there and play.”
Warrington coach Tony Smith praised his side’s effort and commitment as they finally got back to winning way after failing to taste victory in their last six games.
The victory saw the Wolves leapfrog the Dragons into ninth place but last season’s league leaders and losing Grand Finalists are still three points behind Wigan and Huddersfield with just four games remaining before the split.
Smith said: “It wasn’t a spectacular game but I thought our effort was enormous.
“The game had some tension in it but there was lots of spirit and fight and we removed a lot of our errors, which gave us a chance to compete.
“I thought our back three of Will Dagger, Kevin Penny and Jack Johnson were error-free and did a fantastic job at the back, with us being without our usual three starters.
“The team just showed commitment to the cause and are fighting for each other and that’s a great thing.”
As for their bid to make the top eight, Smith added: “We ticked one off today and we will worry about ticking another one off next week.
“There are plenty of twists and turns to happen and there will be couple of shocks and upsets, so all we can do is focus on the next game.
“This week we did it pretty well because Catalans were trying to impress a new coach and they tried really hard and a lot better than they have been in recent weeks and really had a shot as it.”