Senior Catalans Dragons official leaves club as exits continue
Catalans Dragons' Stade Gilbert Brutus.
Joel Tomkins’ departure from Catalans Dragons has been well-documented, but another key figure has also left the club.
General Manager Alex Chan has also left his role at the Dragons, Love Rugby League has learned, after almost a decade acting as general manager of the club.
A former Catalans player, Chan played for the club between 2006 and 2008, making 51 appearances before returning to Perpignan to take on the off-field role in 2016.
His sons, Tiaki and Joe, have both represented the club in that time, but he is now understood to have departed in what is another significant change at the top of the club.
Long-serving coach Steve McNamara left midway through last season while at the end of the campaign, the club’s Sporting Director, Neil McIlroy, also left the club.
In the space of a short period both Chan and Tomkins have now left the club at what is an interesting point in time for Les Dracs.
On the field, they have started well and are currently in the play-offs, just two points off top spot. It comes with the club spending significantly under the salary cap, a major change to the norm at Stade Gilbert Brutus. That decision was made as a result of the additional financial costs placed on the club for the travel of other Super League teams who make their way to Perpignan to play against them.
It remains unclear what Catalans intend to do on the coaching front after Tomkins’ departure. They have placed Ryan Sheridan in temporary charge and also have Micky McIlorum and Mitchell Pearce on their coaching staff, though none of them have been head coaches at the top level in their careers to date.
