Dragons clash is a chance to bounce back...

some positives out of the defeat.

“We let ourselves down in key areas I thought even though we started the game slow at 8-8 we had them on the back foot in the second half,” said Woolford.

“We came up with some things which could have gone a little bit better and it was disappointing the way we finished the game.”

Woolford was particularly pleased with the fringe players drafted in to fill gaps left in key positions due to injury, and that the side remained competitive in the latter stages.

“The positives are that we were in the position to win the game with 20 minutes to go, the guys that came in, Adam Walne, Sam Hewitt, and Izaac Farrell all held their nerve and played well for us,” he said.

“Farrell gained experience and confidence knowing that he can compete at the top level, I thought he made to important tackles earlier in the game and his kicking game was good, he set up a nice try and kicked a goal from the sideline to made it 8-8 so he did a lot of good things.”

Woolford expects a major returner for the game in the south of France, but supporters will probably have to wait until the next home game to see their first-choice half-back combination of Lee Gaskell and Matt Frawley dovetail as they did in pre-season, but will more than likely see Scott Grix retain the No.1 jersey after an encouraging performance.

Said Woolford: “Aaron Murphy will be back, maybe Gaskell, but it is looking more and more like the Warrington game.”

“Scott Grix is available, he played last week and that was his first hit out didn’t play in any friendly game, so he’ll be better for that this week.”

Woolford has highlighted improvements in the back three, who suffered significant changes after Jermaine McGillvary’s injury in pre-season. He hopes those combinations will prosper with game-time.

He said: “Our back three needs to improve. There’s some areas where we need to be better as far as their combinations but with Akuila’s playing his first real game with us and Grix’s doing the same, there is a bit of disruption.

“Also, with Darnell training at fullback and having to put him back on the wing for Round 1 that’s not ideal but it is what it is we had to put the best team out possible and that’s what we did.”

Tomorrow’s opponents, the reigning Challenge Cup winners, suffered a loss to Castleford in Round One, but Woolford expects the talented French outfit to

The Dragons are a completely different team at home so we’re expecting a better

team