Catalans Dragons

The Catalans Dragons (sometimes referred to as Les Catalans or the Dragons) are a professional rugby league club based in Perpignan, France. They play in the European Super League and, as UTC, the French Elite One Championship competitions and even though the club was only recently formed they have to date achieved a championship title in 2005 and two consecutive Lord Derby Cups in 2004 and 2005 as well as contesting the English Challenge Cup Final in 2007.

The club was founded in 2001 in Perpignan, France, under the name "Union Treiziste Catalan"; following the merger of the successful XIII Catalan club and close neighbours Saint Estève. They were granted admission into the European Super League, the highest tier of professional rugby league in Europe, in 2006.

History

The club was formed in 2000 as Union Treiziste Catalan, from a merger of the famous XIII Catalan and St Estève clubs, and they continue to play in the French Championship under this name, which is often abbreviated to UTC.

XIII Catalan were founded in 1935, and thus were founding members of the French rugby league championship. AS Saint Estève were founded in 1965. Both teams were from Perpignan, in the Catalan region of France.

In 2001 the LER should have had four Perpignan teams out of the twelve in the comp. Pia, SC, XIII Catalan and St Estève. In 2002, St Cyprien joined the merged UTC side.

They were selected ahead of Toulouse and Villeneuve to enter the Super League in 2006. It is hoped that they will form the backbone of the national team. The club set its target that 75% of the players will be qualified to play for France. This will not be the first time that a French side has played in the Super League, though the first attempt, Paris Saint Germain, lasted only two seasons. Part of Paris' problem was that both codes of rugby have their stronghold in the south of France, whilst the north of France is more soccer friendly. Another problem was that their players were on loan from French league clubs and had to play for their own clubs as well, training in the south before undertaking the long journey to Paris or England for matches.

To ensure that Catalans Dragons had the best French players available to them the French rugby league decided that they could sign players from other French clubs without paying a transfer fee. They were also been promised that they will not be relegated from the Super League for three years even if they finish bottom. Many believe that Catalans Dragons will be joined by other French clubs in the Super League though the whole idea of expanding into France is not without its critics among supporters of smaller British rugby league clubs. Catalans Dragons won their first ever Super League match 38-30 against Wigan Warriors on Saturday 11th February 2006 at Stade Aimé Giral. The club encountered a predictable steep learning curve in their first season in Super League with many of the less experienced French players running out of steam towards the end of a grueling, injury marred campaign. A particular loss was that of key playmaker and Captain Stacey Jones who missed much of the season with a broken arm. They eventually finished bottom of the table, but due to their 3-year exemption from relegation remained in Superleague.

2007 saw strong recruitment by new coach Mick Potter with a string of high-profile signings from Australia including Clint Greenshields, Casey McGuire, Jason Croker and Aaron Gorrell, all seasoned NRL campaigners. Gorrell, a goalkicking hooker, in particular impressed in the first month but unfortunately sustained a bad knee injury in February's win over Leeds and missed the rest of the season. On 10 March 2007 it was announced Newcastle Knights hooker Luke Quigley would cover Gorrell's absence for the remainder of the campaign but a number of players sustained injuries throughout the campaign. Young stars Dimitri Pelo and Vincent Duport in the backs impressed, and show real promise for the future and for young talent in France in general. Recent addition to the fold at the Catalan Dragons is former Canberra Raiders, Melbourne Storm and Parramatta Eels Halfback Andrew McFadden who is now their Assistant Coach. Andrew said upon signing with the Dragons that he was doing it for his cousin, former prop Joe McCarthy, who was his "shining light".

On July 29 2007, the Dragons became the first French side and first non-English side to reach the final of the Challenge Cup after beating Wigan Warriors 37-24 in the semi final. Catalans lost the 2007 Challenge Cup Final with St Helens at Wembley Stadium on August 25th 2007. They also managed to finish the 2007 season off the bottom of the table, ending the season in a respectable 10th place.

In 2008, the Dragons secured their first playoff berth, finishing third on the league ladder largely on the back of a ferocious forward pack. They smashed Warrington 46–8 in their first-ever playoff match on 13 September in Perpignan, but on 20 September saw Wigan blow open what had been a close game in the second half of their elimination semifinal, with Wigan ultimately winning 50–26.

Coach Mick Potter will leave the Dragons at the end of the season to replace Daniel Anderson at St Helens. He will be replaced by fellow Australian Kevin Walters. Recruitment for 2009 has been the most exciting to date of the Superleague clubs and will include Stephen Bell and Kangaroo Jason Ryles, replacing the retiring John 'Sargeant' Wilson and Alex 'Super' Chan.

The focal point for English speaking Catalan fans is the excellent www.sang-et-or.net part of the WWW.RLFANS.COM network.

2008 Squad

Although other players may play for the Catalans Dragons during the year, all Super League clubs are required to select a top tier First Grade squad at the beginning of the season. Below is the list submitted for 2008. All players are ordered by their jersey number. As of 5 March2008 Super League Games Only

Nationality	Squad No	Player	Position	App	Tries	Goals	DG	Points
	1	Clint Greenshields	Fullback	0	0	0	0	0
	2	Justin Murphy	Winger	0	0	0	0	0
	3	John Wilson	Centre	0	0	0	0	0
	4	Adam Mogg	Centre	0	0	0	0	0
	5	Dimitri Pelo	Winger	0	0	0	0	0
	6	Thomas Bosc	Stand Off	0	0	0	0	0
	7	Casey McGuire	Scrum Half	0	0	0	0	0
	8	David Ferriol	Prop	0	0	0	0	0
	9	Aaron Gorrell	Hooker	0	0	0	0	0
	10	Jérôme Guisset	Prop	0	0	0	0	0
	11	Sébastien Raguin	Second Row	0	0	0	0	0
	12	Jason Croker	Second Row	0	0	0	0	0
	13	'''Grégory Mounis	Loose Forward	0	0	0	0	0
	14	Dane Carlaw	Prop	0	0	0	0	0
	15	Mathieu Griffi	Prop	0	0	0	0	0
	16	Olivier Elima	Second Row	0	0	0	0	0
	17	Cyril Gossard	Second Row	0	0	0	0	0
	18	Vincent Duport	Centre	0	0	0	0	0
	19	Alex Chan	Prop	0	0	0	0	0
	20	Kane Bentley	Hooker	0	0	0	0	0
	21	Andrew Bentley	Loose Forward	0	0	0	0	0
	22	Jamal Fakir	Prop	0	0	0	0	0
	23	Cyril Stacul	Winger	0	0	0	0	0
	24	Rémi Casty	Prop	0	0	0	0	0
	25	Younes Khattabi	Centre	0	0	0	0	0
	26	Jean-Philippe Baile	Winger	0	0	0	0	0
	27	Florian Quintilla	Hooker	0	0	0	0	0
	28	Julien Touxagas	Second Row	0	0	0	0	0

2008 Signings/Transfers

Gains

2008 Signings/Transfers
Player	Previous Club	Years Signed	Until the End of
Dane Carlaw	Brisbane Broncos	?	200?
Olivier Elima	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	?	200?
Jean Philippe Baile	?	?	200?
Florian Quintilla	?	?	200?

Losses

Losses
Player	Signed for	When left
Stacey Jones	Retired	September 2007
Adel Fellous	Toulouse Olympique	October 2007
Luke Quigley		October 2007
Lionel Teixido	SC Albi	October 2007
Julien Touxagas	UTC (came back due to injuries)	October 2007
David Berthezene	UTC	October 2007

Honours

Footnotes

References

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External links

• Catalans Dragons official site — under construction:
• Catalans Dragons at Superleague.co.uk
• Sang-Et-Or
• The World of Rugby League
• League Unlimited
• Catalans Dragons stats at rugbyleagueproject.com