McNamara pleased to get the monkey off Catalans back

Catalans coach Steve McNamara said the win was all that mattered as they opened their account for the season with a win over Hull KR on Saturday.

The Dragons edged past the Robins 18-16 to avenge their early season loss in the reverse fixture for only McNamara’s second win in as coach in regular Super League fixtures.

He said: “It was an anxious nervous performance, it was a huge monkey on our backs, and the two points was all that matters.

“We needed to win. The players have worked their socks off and worked hard over long periods.

“It wasn’t a classic match by any stretch and I thought we played better against Wakefield and St Helens in our previous two home games, but to get the win is a reward for the players.

“That gives them optimism and they should have that as we’re a good team and we’ll prove that over the season.

Catalans had opened the season with four consecutive losses, going down by two points at home to Wakefield in their last outing.

They were thumped 40-12 on opening day by Widnes and lost at home to St Helens before being beaten by Hull KR last month.

McNamara added: “The boys can breathe a bit, relax a bit and really start to play.

“People talk about how tough it is to come to Catalans, try doing it the other way 12/13/14 times a year and I’ll tell you how tough it is.

“Some calls go for you, some go against, we’ve had plenty go against us on our away trips, so if we’ve got them in this game, then great.”

Catalans welcome struggling Warrington to Perpignan on Saturday, knowing a win would lift them level on points with the Wolves in the Super League table.