Mitch Garbutt confident of Toulouse achieving Super League survival
Photo: Manuel Blondeau / SWpix
Toulouse forward Mitch Garbutt says the French side’s win over St Helens was no surprise and has backed his team-mates to stay in Super League.
Sylvain Houles’ men stunned the champions in one of the biggest Super League shocks in recent years.
And the Australian prop Garbutt told the Love Rugby League Podcast it was a long overdue reward for their efforts.
“We were building for that,” he said. “I was happy for the players who have been here for a long time. To get the first win in Super League for the French boys and the coach particularly.”
Speaking on this week’s Love Rugby League Podcast, the former Leeds and Hull KR forward reveals his love of life in France and his strong belief that Toulouse can produce enough victories to avoid relegation from Super League.
“It gives us confidence,” he said. “We are a confident side anyway. It’s about being consistent and not having big gaps in between our best and worse games.
“Pre-season was good, we brought in some good people to add to the side. Then we got the news that we were going to lose Jonno (Johnathan Ford) and Killer (Mark Kheirallah) which was massive. It’s disappointing that it went the way it did.
“To lose your full-back and half-back going into the season affects you. They come up with our game plans. At the weekend we started to attack how Tony (Gigot) and Luca (Albert) and Olly (Ashall-Bott) want to attack and played to their strengths.
“ I don’t think the team feels pressure. Led by Sylvain it is about staying at a controlled level of emotions. I think we can surprise a lot of people and definitely stay up.”
Mitch Garbutt on what the future holds
The 32-year-old Garbutt is in his final year of his current Toulouse deal but is settled in France where his partner is expecting their third child in the autumn.
“This is my last year with Toulouse and I’m not sure what’s going on there, that’s up to me with how I perform on the field. As long as I’m playing at a decent level I hope there’s still a role for me but I’ll have to wait and see.”
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