The Morning After: French rising stars, Hull KR fightback & bright future for Broadbent

Drew Darbyshire

The Morning After looks at three talking points from the latest Super League action.

French rising stars

Mathieu Laguerre in action for Catalans

James Maloney’s name will obviously be written in the headlines after kicking a drop goal to seal a 29-28 victory for Catalans against Hull KR in golden point extra-time – but the club’s youngsters deserve a huge amount of credit.

REPORT: Catalans 29-28 Hull KR: James Maloney drop goal wins it for Dragons in golden point

Mathieu Laguerre, who hails from Marseille, could not have wished for a better debut. He scored, provided an assist, picked up the man of the match award and was on the winning side.

Earlier in the week, Sam Tomkins tipped Laguerre as one to watch this year, and the young centre certainly delivered.

Also, Arthur Mourgue came on late on in place of Tomkins who left the field for a concussion assessment, and the young Frenchman didn’t let the Dragons down. He made a marvellous break to set up Maloney’s drop goal late on.

Hull KR fightback

Ryan Hall scored a hat-trick for Hull KR

Hull KR’s players and supporters will no doubt be gutted not to have got the two points against Catalans – but they can be proud of their fightback and can take that into the next couple of games.

The Dragons led 28-10 after 50 minutes but the Robins produced a stunning comeback to take the game into golden point extra-time.

If Hull KR can play like they did in the final 30 minutes against Catalans for 80 minutes, then they will go pretty well this year.

Bright future for Broadbent

Jack Broadbent impressed in Leeds’ 28-22 win over Wakefield at Headingley. The young centre has a bright future in the game, that’s for sure.

The 19-year-old, who spent time on loan with Batley and Featherstone in 2019, was playing in just his fourth game for the Rhinos on Saturday but it looked like he had been playing at that level for a number of years.

Broadbent had plenty of good touches and Leeds coach Richard Agar has praised him quite a lot in pre-season, so it seems like the only way is up for the Rhinos academy product.

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