Catalans Dragons ‘willing to do anything to play’ insists Joel Tomkins

The former England second-row only switched from Hull KR to Perpignan in October and had played just two games before the season was shut down due to coronavirus in mid-March. French prime minister Édouard Philippe announced the country’s exit strategy on Tuesday and revealed no professional sporting events would be allowed even behind closed doors throughout the summer.

It remains unclear when Super League will resume but it is hoped it could be June which would cause obvious problems for Catalans.

They are exploring all options in order to fulfil their fixtures but Tomkins said: “The club has been really, really good with us as players and very transparent.

“Obviously we’ve taken a pay cut but pretty much every club has done that and the club has been really good with us here.

“From our end, then, if we have to come over to England and spend a bit of time in England and play over there, as long as we have a clear plan in place, I think we’d be happy to do whatever we need to. Obviously we are in a different situation to the rest of Super League – barring Toronto – but if we have to travel a little bit more or stay in England longer, I can’t see it being an issue if I’m honest.”

The ex-Wigan Warriors star, who represented England during a three-year stint at Saracens, has already been back home once.

Tomkins, 33, explained: “When it (Covid-19) first kicked off and there was still just rumours about going into isolation, we came back (to Wigan). But the lockdown was enforced while we were there so we stayed for three weeks in isolation with my parents.

“Then there was rumours the isolation was going to be lifted and we’d be back training so, with it being our main residence in France, we were able to drive back over.

“We’ve been isolating here as we need to be ready when training resumes although no one really knows when it will be yet.”

Tomkins was captain at Rovers after initially joining following his exit from Wigan in June 2018.

He left the Robins, though, after requesting a release on “compassionate grounds” and moved over to France to link up with younger brother Sam.

Tomkins said: “I’ve been enjoying it. We’ve all been adjusting to life over here. It’s just disappointing the season got postponed after just a couple of games so we’re all looking forward to restarting.”

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