Joe Philbin on Catalans Dragons v Warrington Wolves

The Wire are tasked with becoming the first side to beat Steve McNamara's side this season when they make the trip to Perpignan for the first time since August 2019.

Philbin and his teammates will fly into and out of France today – something they have done regularly for Catalans away games – but with strict Covid rules still in place, they will be subject to increased testing and quarantine upon return.

However, the prop says that cannot be used as an excuse should they fail to perform at the Stade Gilbert Brutus.

He also said games between the two are "quite personal" since the Dragons stunned a heavily-favoured Warrington side to win the 2018 Challenge Cup Final.

"They’ve started really well and are playing some good rugby," he said.

"It will take a big performance but I’m 100 per cent confident we can get the job done.

"We’ve done well in France before and we’ve done well on the one-day turnaround so there’s no excuses with the travel.

"We’re excited, it’s going to be a good challenge and these are the games you look forward to.

"I do enjoy the Catalans fixture – it’s always a very physical affair and that’s my style.

"They broke our hearts in that Challenge Cup Final in 2018 and ever since, it’s been quite personal between the two of us. It’s one I bookmark in the calendar.

"To be honest, they’re pretty strong in the pack. There’s people we have to be very wary of.

"(Julian) Bousquet likes to offload the ball, so we have to do our job around him and wrap the ball up.

"(Sam) Kasiano will come off the bench and bring a big impact for them, so its our job to neutralise him and make him do a lot of work.

Philbin has picked out Sam Kasiano as one of Catalans' dangermen in the pack. Picture by Laurent Selles/Catalans Dragons/SWPix.com

"They are a quality side but we back our abilities in neutralising them and fighting fire with fire."

The Wire head to France having won two, drawn one and lost one of their four games so far in 2021.

Philbin believes their past two Super League performances – Sunday's 14-14 draw at Hull FC and the 44-12 win over Leigh Centurions on Good Friday – have seen the team make "big strides" towards where they would like to be.

Ultimately, he says, the aim is to be at the top of their game at the business end of the season.

"I think we’ve started steadily and we’re building each week," he saod.

"We took some big strides in our last two Super League performances. Defensively, we were good apart from a couple of small moments against Hull.

"They had a massive back five and a big pack and that’s what we’re going to face again at the weekend, so it was probably good practice.

"We’re building slowly but building nicely and we want to be ready to play our best rugby later in the season."

Joe Philbin takes on the Hull FC defence on Sunday. Picture by SWPix.com