Catalans Dragons v Warrington Wolves preview

Steve Price has promised a ‘change of mentality’ from his Warrington Wolves side on Saturday, so it will be interesting to see how that translates onto the pitch.

One thing that is for certain is that The Wire cannot carry on as they currently are.

Players and coaches alike have spoken about reducing the amount of penalties they concede, but so far it has not been reflected on the pitch.

On paper at least, a trip to a Catalans side that have lost four of their first five games may be the perfect opportunity for Price’s side to bounce back.

However, as we all know, this game is not played on paper…

Last week's defeat to St Helens made it three losses in five games for The Wire in 2018. Picture by Mike Boden

What they’ve said:

“When something does go wrong, we can’t double it up.

“We fully understand where our penalties are coming from. We know how we can fix it, but it’s about having the attitude to actually do it out on the pitch.

“Once we get that out of our game and eliminate our errors, it gives us more of an opportunity to play the sort of football that we’ve practiced.”

Steve Price, Warrington Wolves head coach.

“We’ve had some adversities and we’re still contending with some of them now.

“Now we’ve got two points on the board, the boys can breathe a little bit and start to play.

“We’ve got a few carrying injuries from last week but we’ve also got players on the sidelines waiting to come in.”

Steve McNamara, Catalans Dragons head coach.

Numbers game.

Chris Hill looks set to make his 200th appearance for The Wire at the Stade Gilbert Brutus on Saturday.

The Wolves skipper made his debut for the club on February 18, 2012, when Warrington won 33-22 at Huddersfield.

Saturday looks set to be Chris Hill's 200th game in primrose and blue. Picture by Mike Boden

Warrington team news:

Price has just one new injury concern ahead of the trip across the English Channel, with centre Ryan Atkins missing with an abductor muscle strain.

However, Bryson Goodwin is fit to return after missing last week’s defeat against St Helens with a knee injury.

Mike Cooper has also passed a head test, while Sitaleki Akauola comes back in after serving a one-match suspension.

Squad: Sitaleki Akauola, Kevin Brown, Mitch Brown, Daryl Clark, Mike Cooper, Dom Crosby, Bryson Goodwin, Chris Hill, Jack Hughes, George King, Toby King, Tom Lineham, Harvey Livett, Ben Murdoch-Masila, Joe Philbin, Stefan Ratchford, Tyrone Roberts, Morgan Smith, Ben Westwood.

Ryan Atkins limps out of last week's defeat to St Helens. He will miss tomorrow's game. Picture by Mike Boden

Catalans team news:

Forward Jason Baitieri misses out for the Dragons as he picked up a one-match suspension for dangerous contact during their win over Hull KR on Saturday.

Vincent Duport replaces him in an otherwise unchanged squad.

Squad: David Mead, Iain Thornley, Brayden Wiliame, Fouad Yaha, Remi Casty, Paul Aiton, Sam Moa, Louis Anderson, Ben Garcia, Greg Bird, Julian Bousquet, Mikael Simon, Vincent Duport, Thibaud Margalet, Michael McIlorum, Lewis Tierney, Benjamin Jullien, Lucas Albert, Tony Gigot.

One to watch.

David Mead.

Many eyebrows were raised when it was announced that Mead, Papua New Guinea’s captain, had joined Catalans for 2018.

He has enjoyed an extensive NRL career with first the Gold Coast Titans and then Brisbane Broncos, for whom he scored a try against The Wire in last year’s World Club Challenge.

In his early days in France, he has shown glimpses of that star quality by scoring three tries in his first five appearances.

He skippered PNG at last year’s Rugby League World Cup, scoring four tries in as many matches from full-back.

David Mead, centre, captained Papua New Guinea at last year's Rugby League World Cup. Picture by NRLPhotos.

Match odds (via Betfred):

Catalans 6/4.

Warrington 4/7.

Draw 25/1.

Essential info:

When: Saturday, March 17, 2018.

Kick off: 6pm local time (5pm UK time).

Where: Stade Gilbert Brutus, Avenue de l'Aérodrome, 66000 Perpignan, France.

The Catalans Dragons logo that adorns the tunnel at the Stade Gilbert Brutus. Picture by Mike Boden

Officials:

Referee: Chris Kendall.

Touch judges: G Jones, J McMullen.

Video referee: Ben Thaler.

How can I follow the game?

The Warrington Guardian will, as always be providing extensive coverage of tomorrow’s game.

Sports reporter Matt Turner will be in France with the team and will bring you ‘Matchday Live’ straight from the Stade Gilbert Brutus, with build-up starting from around 3pm UK time.

Photographer Mike Boden is also making the trip and you will be able to check out his pictures in our photo gallery after the game.

You will be able to join in the discussion with us via our social media channels, ‘Warrington Wolves – Warrington Guardian’ on Facebook and @WG_Sport on Twitter.