Leeds Rhinos vs Catalan Dragons Preview

Leeds Rhinos return to Headingley Stadium on Thursday night to play last season's runners up Catalan Dragons. Coming off the back of two successive losses, this is now a chance to kickstart the 2022 season and round off a start to the season where Leeds have played three of last season's top four in the first three weeks of the season. 

Last season the two teams faced each other twice and both games followed a disappointingly similar pattern from the perspective of a Leeds Rhinos fan. In both games Leeds raced out to half time leads, 18-2 and 18-8 respectively, before being powerless to prevent an onslaught of tries in the second half and succumbing to 27-18 and 26-18 defeats. Led by mercurial talent Arthur Mourgue and the NRL veteran James Maloney, Catalan were able to break down the Rhinos defence with relative ease. In particular second rowers Matt Whitley and Mike McMeeken found particular joy running lead lines off the halfbacks and finding gaps in the fragile Leeds edge defence.

Off the back of a season of unprecedented success in the 2021 season, it has been a more difficult start to the current campaign. In the super league opener they were comprehensively outplayed by St Helens losing 28-8 in what was a grand final rematch. A mix of ill discipline and  poor defence meant that they never stood a chance against a well drilled St Helens team who seemingly found the try line with ease.

The following week back in Perpignan they picked up their first win of the season,beating Wakefield 24-22 after seeing off a near comeback from the Wildcats. Going into the last 15 minutes of the game Catalan were 24-10 in front before conceding two late tries that further highlights a vulnerability in defence not seen in the previous season. 

Led by Steve Mcnamara, the Catalans squad is filled with a mix of players with plenty of NRL and Super League experience. Among the squad they also have two genuine marquee players in former origin player Mitchell Pearce and England and Great Britain international Sam Tomkins who are the key to how the Dragons play. Catalan as a team like to play a structured brand of football but also at times can also play with a gallic flair that excites the partisan fans at the Stade Brutus. 

Other than these two players mentioned they also have a number of other dangerous playersr. In particular winger Fouad Yaha has found success against the Rhinos in the previous season. A strong and powerful ball runner, he is also a world class finisher who knows how to make use of the gaps in defence created by the work of Tomkins and Pearce in the backline.

The seventeen men Leeds should expect to face on Thursday night will be more than likely very similar to the team that beat Wakefield. Forwards Gil Dudson and Dylan Napa are still banned due to their actions in round 1 as well as Mickael Goudemand who picked up a ban last week. Perhaps luckily for Leeds, thorn in the side of the previous games Arthur Mourgue picked up an ankle ligament injury in training that will see him out for the next 10-12 weeks. 

Similarly to the Dragons Leeds should be able to name a similar team to the seventeen that fell to Wigan at the DW stadium. Richie Myler, David  Fusitua and James Bentley are still unavailable due to injury and suspension however the squad will be boosted by the return of Brad Dwyer after his one match suspension. Brad is not only a talented hooker in his own right but he also helps to bring an enthusiasm and energy to the middle of the park that lifts the performance of any tired forwards. His work alongside Kruise Leeming means that defending teams are faced with a double threat of two hookers who love to run from dummy half at the first sign of a fractured defence.

Fans on either side of the English Channel can look forward to what should be an exciting game. Both teams like to play an expansive game and are led by two pairs of Australian half backs who are more than capable of creating chances in attack. 

As well as an abundance of attacking talent, Catalan have a large aggressive forward pack led by the rampaging Sam Kasiano. In order to get the upper hand in the game it will be important that the Leeds forwards meet fire with fire to provide a platform for Leeds to attack from. In the two defeats to Cataln last year tries were not hard to come by for either side and both defences were at times unlocked with relative ease. The key player for the Dragons is Sam Tomkins who no doubt will believe that he can have an equally devastating impact on the game as Jai Field did last week. It will therefore be imperative that Leeds do not allow Catalan to offload as freely in the tackle as Sam Tomkins is constantly sniffing around the ruck for any breakaway opportunity.

Ever the optimist, I believe that it is finally time for Leeds to break the hoodo of getting stuck on only scoring 18 points. In both games this season Leeds have got off to a strong start and if they can take advantage of this they could create a lead that is resistant to any second half comeback from the Dragons. 

Score prediction Leeds Rhinos 28-18 Catalan Dragons.

Thank you for reading and most importantly remember All Leeds aren’t we.