Catalans missed a good opportunity against St Helens, says Steve McNamara
Catalans coach Steve McNamara said his side missed a great opportunity to pick up two points at St Helens.
The Dragons lost 26-12 against Saints at the Totally Wicked Stadium on Thursday night.
Saints still sit at the top of the Super League table, while Catalans are second-bottom.
And McNamara feels as though Saints were there for the taking.
He said: “I’m disappointed because it was an opportunity lost.
“We went into the game thinking we had a great chance and we did. Saints have been fabulous over the last few weeks, but they were a little bit off that standard they have been at and the opportunity was there for us to win.
“We didn’t quite find the energy and the rhythm in attack to do enough damage to Saints. We lacked that little bit of spark and cohesion and connection with the group. We had a really short turnaround because we played on Saturday night in Perpignan in the heat and then we had to travel to England, so we didn’t get much practice in.
“We have improved over the last few weeks. The effort was really good and the players really tried to get the win, but we still conceded five tries and it is always going to be tough if you concede five tries.”
Recent recruit Josh Drinkwater made his debut for the Dragons last Saturday and put in a man of the match performance to help them beat Hull FC.
Drinkwater played his first away game with Catalans at Saints and McNamara has been impressed with him so far.
He added: “Josh (Drinkwater) jumped back into the game on the back of no practice.
“We haven’t been able to get him out on the field much this week because of the travel and the short turnaround.
“He has been good. Give him some time on the training field and he will improve our squad.
“He has played two games in five days on the back of a 24-hour flight. There were parts of his game that I’m sure he’ll be disappointed with, but we have got to give him some space now, let him get some training sessions in and find that rhythm.”
Fiji star Brayden Wiliame left the field and did not return after failing a concussion assessment, but McNamara revealed that the centre was fine in the changing rooms after the game.