Super League 2022: Man of Steel Sam Tomkins and Grand Final runners-up Catalans Dragons aim to fire again | Rugby League News

Sam Tomkins became a member of an elite group of players to win the Man of Steel award twice as the Dragons won the League Leaders’ Shield and reached a maiden Grand Final in 2021; Catalans kick off the season with a Grand Final rematch against St Helens, live on Sky Sports on Thursday

Sam Tomkins and Catalans surged into the French national sporting conscious in 2021

Sam Tomkins knows well what it is like to be at the centre of the rugby league universe.

The full-back has long been one of the poster boys of British rugby league since bursting onto the scene nearly 15 years ago and his two spells with Wigan Warriors, either side of two seasons in the NRL with New Zealand Warriors, have meant he has long been in the spotlight with one of the sport’s biggest clubs.

It was a feeling few of his Catalans Dragons team-mates, particularly the younger members of the squad, would have experienced prior to the build-up to last year’s Betfred Super League Grand Final though, where the team and players were elevated to the levels of national coverage in France usually reserved for rugby union, football and cycling.

Ultimately, the Dragons fell just short at Old Trafford as they succumbed to a 12-10 defeat against St Helens, the team they face in the 2022 season-opener, live on Sky Sports, on Thursday night. But, as Tomkins explained, there has been a positive reaction to that in their home city of Perpignan and beyond.

“It was almost like Catalans Dragons had been thrust to the front of French sport for the week leading up to the final and we’ll see the ripples of that for a long time,” Tomkins said, reflecting on the lead-up to the Grand Final.

“The people are really passionate here and it’s funny because I’ve been at Wigan when you’ve lost a Grand Final, and the fans after that are angry, explain to you while you should have won and what you could have done to win it because everyone is an expert after a loss.

“But the feeling I got here was ‘we’ll get it next year’. The fans are really behind us and everyone was just saying ‘next year we’ll get another win, keep on building’.

“Everyone was really positive and after coming off a horrible loss, it was refreshing to feel that love from fans that everyone was still behind us and wanted us to go one better.”

Tomkins is well-aware all eyes will be on Catalans again in 2022 to see if they can replicate last year’s performance which not only saw them reach a maiden Grand Final but finish top of the Super League table and claim the League Leaders’ Shield for the first time in the club’s history too.

They will, however, have to do it without a player who was one of the key components of that success in James Maloney, with the stand-off having retired from top-level rugby league at the end of the 2021 campaign and joined Lezignan in the French domestic Elite One competition.

Club president Bernard Guasch and head coach Steve McNamara have worked hard to bring in another experienced NRL Grand Final-winning half back in Mitchell Pearce to replace Maloney though, along with the versatile Tyrone May and powerful front row Dylan Napa.

The feeling I got here was ‘we’ll get it next year’. The fans are really behind us and everyone was just saying ‘next year we’ll get another win, keep on building’.

Sam Tomkins on the reaction to Catalans’ Grand Final defeat

“I think the club have done really well and worked hard to get hold of those three – Mitchell Pearce being the front of those,” Tomkins said. “He’s a really talented bloke; it’s clear in training he’s a special kind of player and he’s a real good guy as well, and hopefully that will translate onto the field.

“Dylan Napa is a big bloke and I think he’s going to cause some damage to some people this year. He’s big, he’s aggressive and suits the way we play.

“Tyrone May can play pretty much any position; I hadn’t seen much of him before, but at training he’s been filling in pretty much every position but prop, so I think he’ll hold some value in terms of the start of the season when we’re missing Arthur Mourgue.

“We play a sport where injuries are inevitable, so somebody who can cover a lot of positions is really handy to have.”

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Last year’s Man of Steel Sam Tomkins shared his story ahead of Catalans Dragons’ first Super League Grand Final appearance.

Tomkins knows that all too well, having played through the pain barrier in the Grand Final and then being forced to miss England’s end-of-year international against France due to a knee injury, although that has now healed without any lingering effects, and he is raring to go again.

The 32-year-old was judged the stand-out performer in Super League last year after being named as Steve Prescott MBE Man of Steel, becoming only the fourth player in the history of the award to win it more than once along with greats Andy Farrell, Paul Sculthorpe and three-time winner Ellery Hanley.

The England international does not feel any more expectation on himself despite that though, with his focus more on contributing to the team as they aim to go one better than in 2021.

“I don’t think there’s any more pressure because I’ve won that – the pressure is probably on the good players who haven’t won it before,” Tomkins said. “I’ve won it twice, so I should be the only one without pressure on me.

“I want to play well every single week regardless. There are 350 players in Super League and every one of them wants to win the Man of Steel. I’ll be back in the mix and hopefully I can have a successful year.

“Things like that come at the end of the season and they’re never really a goal, as such. I just want to be consistent.”

Sky Sports will again be broadcasting extensive live coverage of the Betfred Super League in 2022, including 25 games between February and April, Magic Weekend and the Grand Final. Watch reigning champions St Helens and Catalans Dragons face off in a rematch of last year’s Grand Final in the season opener on Thursday, February 10.