Has Catalans bubble burst?

[cpwigan]

They scared the .... out of me with their style of play, wins v us. Yet, now they are getting beaten quite regularly.

[Mr Stu]

If they get their discipline in order they will challenge, they seem to be their own worst enemy at times.

[southernpie]

And if you take that with the Giants lack of form, it is not too unlikely that the Whinos will finish 4th and we have to play them twice to get to OT.
The Giants really need to beat Quinns tomorrow.

[Kittwazzer]

They scared the .... out of me with their style of play, wins v us. Yet, now they are getting beaten quite regularly.

Only side to double us in 2 years, they still scare the crap out of me. My big nightmare was losing to them in the first playoff and having to play them again at their place!

Thanks for that CP.

[josie andrews]

Hull KR edge out Catalans in thriller to move into top eight

Hull KR replaced Castleford in the play-off places with a thrilling win in the south of France, setting up a dramatic last-day shoot-out between themselves and the Tigers next weekend.

With Catalan strangely wilting late in the season - this was a third straight defeat - Rovers were too hot for their opponents to handle and outgoing coach Justin Morgan knows his final season will end in a third-straight play-off appearance if his side can avoid defeat to Castleford at Craven Park next Sunday.

A Tigers win would see them and not Rovers complete the top eight, but on this form, Rovers will be difficult to stop.

Former Catalan man Michael Dobson was their star, opening the scoring with a solo effort that saw him sneak between two would-be Catalan defenders.

He then produced an outstanding pass to Craig Hall who went inside to the supporting Kris Welham, who marked his 100th appearance for the club with his 23rd try of the season.

Dobson converted both tries to give the visitors a 12-point lead and further extended the advantage on 15 minutes when he kicked a penalty.

Catalan were spurred into action and a hard drive from Remy Casty gave the Dragons field position to launch an attack, although misplaced passes from firstly Steve Menzies and then Scott Dureau saw the attack defended.

Catalan again looked to attack in the 21st minute and on the back of Gregory Mounis being held up, Dureau's kick to the right saw Setaimata Sa leap above the Rovers defence to touch down for his fifth try of the season.

Dureau added the conversion to bring the home side back into the game.

The hosts were denied a further try just minutes later when Clint Greenshields bounced off Scott Murrell's tackle to touch down, the video referee denying the score on this occasion for a double movement.

Hall then dropped the ball over the line and, as Catalan restarted from the 20-metre line, they sent the ball wide to Jean-Philippe Baile and he did the rest in the corner.

Dureau missed the conversion as the Dragons narrowed the gap to four points.

With five minutes remaining of the half, Hull KR further extended their lead when, after slick handling from Dobson, Jake Webster found Sam Latus in space to touch down in the corner. Dobson's conversion attempt hit the post.

With 15 seconds remaining on the clock a Catalan scrum saw Dureau kick to the right corner for Blanch, but the winger mistimed his jump and Hall broke away down the touchline after palming away Baille. With the cover closing in, Hall offloaded to the supporting Welham who raced away to score.

Dobson added the two points with his fourth goal of the night to send the Rovers into the break with a 14-point lead.

With coach Trent Robinson's words ringing in their ears, the Dragons started the second half on fire.

Daryl Millard went into the acting half, dummied one way, then the other and a gap opened up in front of him. He waltzed though it and went in, before the same player found the space to send Seb Raguin crashing over at the corner.

There was no let-up as Hall won a race with Blanch to score off Dobson`s kick, with the latter converting to restore an eight-point lead.

Ben Fisher was tackled just centimetres from the Dragons line, Millard went close again and so did Sa and Greenshields as both sides looked to close out the game.

With nine minutes remaining Millard set up a tense finish as he climbed above Latus to touch down. Dureau converted to narrow the gap to two points.

The Dragons threw everything at the Rovers defence but, with a play-off spot on the line, the visitors repelled them and shut down Freddie Vaccari late on to take the game.

http://www.rleague.com/content/article.php?id=41019

[josie andrews]

Well done to HKR, bet this was a great game

[josie andrews]

Morgan proud of his Rovers

Robins can secure play-off place next Sunday

Hull KR coach Justin Morgan praised his side's "guts and determination" after they replaced Castleford in the Super League play-off places with a win over Catalan Dragons in the heat of southern France.

"Conditions were tough out there, it was humid and muggy, but I thought we showed some great guts and determination, especially in that second half," he said.

"I thought some individuals came up with some big plays at big times, Kris Welham with a couple of try savers, Sam Latus came up with some big plays as did Craig Hall.

"In terms of execution it wasn't great; in terms of guts and determination and spirit it was fantastic.


"To come down here and win given their impressive home record is a special effort, they are a very formidable team and especially at their home ground."

Dragons coach Trent Robinson was disappointed by his side's slow start, which meant the game was almost beyond them inside the first quarter.

"It was tough out there tonight," he said. "I thought they were great and they came out with a lot of intensity and that semi-final attitude and they showed us how to play the game today.

"We needed to get into the game early tonight and we did at around 20 minutes, but by that stage we were 14 points down, from then on it was tit for tat.

"We went with them but we just couldn't get the points in the end."

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,,12216 ... 5,00.html?

[yokozuna]

I'm sure there are sides we'd prefer to face in the play offs and some we'd rather avoid, but there's no one we should be scared of playing.

I'm sure they'd all prefer to avoid us!

[josie andrews]

I'm sure there are sides we'd prefer to face in the play offs and some we'd rather avoid, but there's no one we should be scared of playing.

I'm sure they'd all prefer to avoid us!

Yes, you're right.

I'm sure they're all cringing on the outcome of today's game!

[Kittwazzer]

Dont like the Catalans, there far too dangerous for me. Wigan struggle against them. I would want to ovoid Leeds also in the playoffs too, seems as tho they have more than enough motivation to run us close and actually beat us.

Leeds problem is they only seem capable of raising their game when we play them!