Dragons will be set free by me
RUGBY LEAGUE MAC VOW TO CARRY ALL CATALANS’ DROP FEARS
STEVE McNAMARA has walked into a relegation battle at Catalans – and he’d love all that pressure on him, not his players.
The former England coach takes charge of his fourth Dragons game at St Helens today, having ended a four-year spell working as an assistant coach Down Under.
A difficult campaign has seen Catalans already condemned t o next month’s Qualifiers – in which the bottom four Super League teams take on the top four in the Championship for places in next year’s top flight.
But McNamara isn’t fretting over that now – he’s only concerned with f i xing t he misfiring Dragons’ mindset in their final two league games.
He said: “I understand the Qualifiers format, the concept, and everything that goes with it. But where we may be, and who we may face, is in the background. This team must focus completely on improving quickly.
Pressure
“Part of the problem at this club has been the huge amount of pressure on the players.
“And it’s my job as coach to take that away.
“The players need clear minds. They have no chance of performing if they’re clouded with thoughts about relegation, contracts, and things like that.
“In any walk of life you need a clear mind to perform well, and that’s been one of my big focuses so far.
“We’ll use the St Helens game and the Castleford one before the break to make sure parts of our game improve and are in order.”
McNamara says that the scope for improvement at the Dragons – who are among Super League’s biggest-spending clubs – was the main attraction in switching to Perpignan.
He said: “I was really happy across there in the NRL.
“I enjoyed the experiences I had with the Sydney Roosters and the New Zealand Warriors. I was very sad to leave there, but the reason was the potential this club has got.
“Catalans is one of the marquee jobs in rugby league, and a job that people were interested in throughout the world.”
Today McNamara will come up against a familiar face from his time in Australia.
This time last year he and Saints boss Justin Holbrook were both assistants at the Roosters.
Opportunity
McNamara added: “You never know which way your path will turn. Justin is a good coach with ambition, and the opportunity came for him at St Helens.
“I’m sure he’ll do a very good job there.
“We know each other fairly well and he’s done a good job of getting them back on track in the second half of the season.
“I know they’re looking to push on and make the top four. We’re in a slightly different situation.
“It’s a cliche, but we’re not worried about them – we’re looking at our own game.”