Catalans still waiting for Tony Gigot decision on future

James Gordon

Catalans coach Steve McNamara says their offer of a new deal to France international Tony Gigot is still on the table, but remains unsigned.

Gigot, 28, is out of contract at the end of the season and has been linked with a move to Super League rivals Huddersfield, amongst others.

It wouldn’t be the first time he has left the Dragons – he departed for Toulouse at the end of 2011 after making 25 appearances in his first stint.

He played for hometown club Avignon and London Broncos, as well as spending a year in Australia with Cronulla, though he didn’t make an appearance in the NRL.

McNamara said: “The offer has been there for Tony for a while now. Nobody is sure at this stage what’s going to happen.”

“We’ll certainly have a couple more signings and there may be an opportunity for another significant one.

“There’s no mad rush, I’m happy to bide my time.”

Gigot has scored more than 300 points for the Dragons, and has also played 12 times for France. He was the Lance Todd Trophy winner as the Dragons beat Warrington in last season’s historic Challenge Cup final.

He spent some time on the sidelines in 2017 in bizarre circumstances, having been handed a two-year ban for an incident with an anti-doping official.

This was reduced to three-months, enabling him to resume playing in April 2017, but the two-year ban was reinstated in August 2017 before again being withdrawn on appeal, and he returned in February 2018.

The Dragons have signed James Maloney for next season, and with Sam Tomkins among their ranks, Gigot has found himself swapped between full back and stand-off this term.