Joel Tomkins preparing for major overhaul at Catalans Dragons following Wigan defeat

Joel Tomkins admitted his Catalans Dragons squad will be much-changed next season after his first game as permanent head coach ended in a 28-18 defeat at Wigan Warriors.

The former Wigan star was confirmed as Steve McNamara’s full-time successor earlier this week and saw his men battle gamely against the current Super League champions.

Catalans scored three second-half tries but their play-off hopes are over and Tomkins is already plotting for the 2026 campaign with 14 players off-contract at the end of the year.

Positives in defeat for Tomkins

On his team’s performance, the ex-dual-code England international told Sky Sports post-match: “In the second half especially, we fixed a couple of things up and came up with some strategies for the second half.

“I thought they came out after half-time and had a real dig – but we’ll never be happy with a defeat.

“Ultimately, we’ve not come away with two points again but we’ll take a lot out of that.

“I could feel the build in confidence in the second half and to finish 28-18, we’re still bitterly disappointed with the result but we will take some positives from that, no doubt.”

A hurricane of change is set to blow through the Stade Gilbert Brutus this winter as Tomkins looks to impose himself on a squad in need of a major overhaul.

Team to be picked based on form

“I’ll pick the team that I think is best to win each game,” he said of Catalans’ remaining seven games of the 2025 campaign.

“No doubt if there are two players and I’m undecided and one is here next year and one’s not then I’ll probably go for the player who’s going to be here next year.

“But we’ll still be picking the team on form and who we think is the best 17 to go out and get a job done each week.”

Age of Dragons’ squad will be lowered

Asked specifically about recruitment for next season, Tomkins conceded: “We’ve probably left it a little bit late with the amount of numbers that we need to bring in.

“But I’ve spoken about our recruitment strategy and our average age this year is over 31.

“So we will looking at bringing that down and we’re probably looking at players who have maybe not played too much NRL but Queensland Cup, New South Wales Cup or even some younger English guys as well.

“There are still quite a players out there on the market and we’re pursuing quite a few at the minute.”