Off the back of a shock win against St. Helens, London Broncos travel to the Stade Gilbert Brutus to take on a Catalans Dragons side that has leaked 85 points in their last two games.
TEAM FORM GUIDE
Catalans Dragons
In contrast to London, Catalans are seemingly out of form of late, having lost their last two games by an aggregate margin of 73 points. The losses, however, came on the road at Warrington and Hull FC in characteristically poor travelling performances from Catalans. On the other hand, Catalans have won six of eight matches at home with only a freak loss against Salford and a contentious Golden Point defeat to Hull FC tarring their home record.
London Broncos
London Broncos recorded back-to-back home wins with a dramatic Golden Point victory over St. Helens last time out to draw level with Hull KR on points at the bottom of the Super League table. Their previous home win (vs Wakefield) ended an eight-game losing streak and the Broncos will look to make it three wins from four against Catalans in Saturday’s late game.
SQUAD NEWS
Catalans Dragons
An injury crisis has forced Steve McNamara to recall Antoni Maria back off his loan to Hull KR, with eight players sidelined for Catalans through injury. The Dragons are boosted, however, with Remi Casty returning to the 19-man squad alongside Mickael Goudemand.
Catalans Dragons 19-man squad: Gigot, Broughton, Mead, Langi, Smith, Casty, Edwards, Garcia, Bousquet, Simon, Jullien, Da Costa, Goudemand, Maria, Baitieri, Romano, Yaha, Kasiano, Tomkins.
London Broncos
London Broncos head coach, Danny Ward, names a largely unchanged side with Nathan Mason coming into the 19-man squad for Sadiq Adebiyi.
London Broncos 19-man squad: Abdull, Battye, Butler, Cunningham, Dixon, Fleming, Fozard, Gee, Ioane, Kear, Krasniqi, Morgan, Mason, Pitts, Richards, Smith, Walker, Williams, Yates.
HEAD TO HEAD
Catalans put London to the sword when the two sides met earlier in the season, beating London 39 – 6 at the Trailfinders Sports ground. Historically, Catalans have also been dominant in the fixture, winning the last ten meetings between the two sides. London have not won away in Perpignan since 2011, where they recorde`d an 11-4 victory in Round 1.
KEY BATTLE
Tony Gigot (Catalans Dragons) v Alex Walker (London Broncos)
The former team-mates will meet on opposite sides of the ball for the second time this season in what provides a mouth-watering battle between the two full backs. Gigot comes into the game off the back of an uncharacteristically quiet performance against Warrington, despite providing the assist for his team’s only try. Alex Walker, on the other hand, completely outplayed his opposite man when Saints visited Ealing to be sent home empty handed last weekend.
The match-up provides a fascinating juxtaposition of all-out flair and unpredictability from Tony Gigot compared to the exceptionally reliable and technically gifted Alex Walker. Gigot, who played two games for London Broncos in the same season that Alex Walker made his first team debut for the side, had the metal over Walker when the two met earlier in the season, however both can provide their teams with game-changing performances with their ability to read the game and Walker will need to bring his best to get one over on a mercurial Gigot playing at home.
THE IMPORTANT DETAILS
Date: 15/06/2019
Venue: Stade Gilbert Brutus
Kick-off: 17:00 BST
Referee: L Moore
WHO WILL WIN?
London Broncos are a team in form, but Catalans home form should edge it in this one.
