Catalans Dragons flying high as they aim for double over Wakefield Trinity

“Ask the owner!” he responds.

“It costs £50,000 every time. We’ve five away games in a row so it’s costing a quarter-of-a-million.

“He doesn’t get the credit for that – what he’s doing to keep us in the competition with the current circumstances and no income coming in. He’s finding a way for us to do it at this stage and we’re grateful for it.”

The owner, of course, is the enigmatic butcher Bernard Guasch who has been helping bankroll the French club since their inception in 2001.

Rarely could he have ever imagined in that time that travelling to and from England would become so problematic due to a global pandemic.

Admittedly, since their arrival in Super League in 2006, Catalans have tended to struggle with the aspect of flying in and out and staying at hotels for days at a time every other week.

Traditionally, it has resulted in inconsistent results and performances, damaging their long-term hopes of being champions.

As part of the deal that saw them carry on competing after Covid, they agreed to travel in to and out of the UK on the day of each game which, in theory, should be even more taxing.

However, ironically, in each of the last two weeks it has resulted in the opposite: stunning results in vanquishing Castleford Tigers 40-14 in Leeds before obliterating Wakefield Trinity 58-0 at St Helens last Saturday.

Remarkably, in the process, they have scored 98 unanswered points. Catalans will be on the expensive chartered flight again early on Saturday morning ahead of a quick rematch against Wakefield in the Coral Challenge Cup sixth round tie at Huddersfield, hoping the trend continues amid their awkward schedule.

McNamara, the former Bradford Bulls and England coach who took charge in Perpignan in 2017 after spells assisting in the NRL, explained: “We can’t do anything different at the minute.

“It’s part of the deal; we put a huge document together detailing it and – when teams can start travelling to us – they can use it, too, with the exemption coming in now for the quarantine.

“We fly in, we land, we go straight to the ground, have four hours at the ground before kick-off and sort of eat there with our food brought into the bus. So it is complicated.”

That is an understatement. Many English sides use the day-trip method in the opposite direction, although obviously none have yet experienced the strict biosecurity measures currently placed on Catalans.

Hull-born McNamara, 48, said: “It is a good way to do it but over a period of time it does take its toll.

“You hear teams coming to us and whinge saying they have to have three days off when they get back as they’ve been to France.

“Well, we have to do that every week at the moment. But it is what it is. We’re happy to do it.”

It is no surprise given those results over the last fortnight. Catalans had returned after lockdown with a 34-6 defeat against champions St Helens in Leeds but the response has been emphatic.

McNamara – who led Catalans to their first major trophy by winning the Challenge Cup at Wembley two years ago – said: “There were a lot of questions after that Saints game – asked by ourselves and obviously by others.

“It was the first game with the new rules. Saints were just too hot. It was a shock. We looked at the stats from that game and how much more the ball was in play and how much more you had to move but we responded and learned some hard lessons.”

The Yorkshireman does not expect their rematch with embarrassed Wakefield to be as easy as a week ago.

He said: “We’re playing the same team but it’ll be a different team. We’ve been where Wakefield were last week. We were not far off that against Saints – injuries, losing players in outside backs, losing squad rotation – everything went wrong.

“We showed the way. We bounced back. Wakefield are a good team. They have good players and genuinely compete hard.

“It was one of those days for them last week. But we know it’ll be a strong challenge from them this time. It’s the Challenge Cup.”

Moreover, Catalans have lost last week’s man-of-the-match Sam Tomkins and prop Sam Moat to suspensions plus dynamic centre Samisoni Langi and Julian Bousquet to injury.

Yet they have the brilliant Israel Folau returning; such depth is one reason why some think they could reach a maiden Grand Final in 2020. Whichever way they decide to travel.

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James Mitchinson