Tomkins fit for Catalans Dragons’ crunch play-off tie

Sam Tomkins has declared himself fit ahead of the Catalans Dragons’ crunch eliminator game against Leeds Rhinos on Friday.

The England captain injured his knee in a recent victory against Toulouse, meaning he missed the Dragons’ final league game of the season at Wigan and last month’s trip to Wakefield.

Speaking to Sky Sports News, the 33-year-old said: “I’m fit and I’m ready to go. The last few weeks was a case of resting, rather than pushing an injury on my knee. I am fully fit and ready for Friday.”

The full-back said that despite securing a home play-off game, 2022 has been a frustrating year for the Dragons.

“The injuries and suspensions have been really frustrating. Last year, in contrast, we felt like we had no injuries and not too many suspensions and we went onto the Grand Final.

“This year has been a bit of a tougher test, and we’ve missed some key players at times. But we’re lucky with the squad that we’ve got. We are in the quarter-finals with now what is a healthy squad.”

‘Don’t let Leeds get momentum’

Catalans Dragons’ reward for finishing in the top four this season is a home tie in the first round of the play-offs, but they will travel in the semi-finals if they get past Leeds.

The two sides only just played each other at the Stade Gilbert Brutus over the August Bank Holiday, with the Dragons winning 32-18.

While the Rhinos will expect a fervent atmosphere on Friday, Tomkins cautioned his side have to be at their best to beat the team from Headingley.

The Rhinos were second from the bottom and seemed destined for a relegation scrap in Easter, but a dramatic up turn in form has helped them secure a place in the play-offs.

Tomkins said: “They seem like they are playing with a lot of confidence now, even going back to the game last week against Castleford Tigers, they were really poor, I’m sure they’d admit that themselves.

“They were poor for a big part of that game, but still managed to come from behind and win. That’s an ability that Leeds have got that not every team in the league does.

“For us, it’s don’t let them get that momentum, play on the front foot and hopefully see it out for 80 minutes because this is a team that, if you don’t play for 80 minutes they will come and punish you.”

Catalans Dragons squad: Arthur Mourgue, Tom Davies, Samisoni Langi, Dean Whare, Fouad Yaha, Mitchell Pearce, Josh Drinkwater, Gil Dudson, Micky McIlorum, Mike McKeekan, Benjamin Garcia, Benjamin Garcia, Alrix Da Costa, Paul Seguier, Mickael Goudemand, Arthur Romano, Tyrone May, Dylan Napa, Joe Chan, Sam Kasiano, Sam Tomkins and Tiaki Chan

Leeds (from): Harry Newman, Liam Sutcliffe, Blake Austin, Aidan Sezer, Mikolaj Oledzki, Kruise Leeming, Matt Prior, James Bentley, Zane Tetevano, Brad Dwyer, Richie Myler, Cameron Smith, Tom Briscoe, Morgan Gannon, Sam Walters, Jarrod O’Connor, James Donaldson, Corey Johnson, Muizz Mustapha, Liam Tindall and Zak Hardaker

Watch Catalans Dragons and Leeds Rhinos face off in the first of the Betfred Super League play-off Eliminators, live and exclusive on Sky Sports on Friday September 9 from 7.30pm (8pm kick-off).