Catalans Dragons coach reveals hammer injury blow ahead of Hull KR semi-final

Catalans could be without influential captain Ben Garcia for their Challenge Cup semi-final against Hull KR, Dragons head coach Steve McNamara has confirmed.

The Dragons were beaten 26-24 by Leigh Leopards in the first game of Magic Weekend on Saturday afternoon, with McNamara’s son Ben’s perfect record with the boot the difference come the final hooter.

That result brought an end to a run of four straight victories for Catalans, who would have moved into Super League’s top six if they had managed to overcome the Leopards.

Catalans Dragons coach reveals hammer injury blow ahead of Hull KR semi-final

During Saturday afternoon’s defeat, the French outfit lost skipper Garcia, who never returned to the field once he had been withdrawn.

In his post-match press conference at St James’ Park, McNamara admitted his concerns over the veteran’s availability heading into next weekend’s cup semi-final.

He said: “It was his groin.

“He came off injured and he wasn’t fit to go back on.

“He’ll work extremely hard this week to get himself right for next weekend, but clearly he’ll be a doubt.

“We’ll have to get that (the logistics of a scan) worked out because we’re out of France and we’re in England for the rest of the week now.

“We’re staying over and getting ourselves ready for the semi-final, so we’ll have to work through all of that.

“We’ve got arrangements for that across here, so we’ll get him checked out as soon as we can.”