Catalans Dragons chairman Bernard Guasch lays into Tony Gigot and other players
Guasch blames Dragons collapse on "six or seven" players who "do not accept being told that they will not be with us next season"
Wednesday 4 September 2019 15:55, UK
Catalans Dragons chairman Bernard Guasch has blamed the team's collapse on the players and said he had been "affected" by the attitude of Tony Gigot.
In an interview with Perpignan newspaper L'Independant, Guasch said he has been devastated by the team's recent form, which included back-to-back home defeats by relegation-threatened duo London Broncos and Hull KR.
The Dragons began the season with high hopes of building on their historic 2018 Challenge Cup success and were sitting in third place after the Magic Weekend in May, but they will finish outside the top five after winning just three of their last 11 matches.
Guasch said the results demonstrated the team's reliance on former Wigan duo Sam Tomkins and Michael McIlorum, who were suspended in the fall-out from a bad-tempered clash with Warrington, and accused others of being a disruptive influence.
He pointed the finger at "six or seven players at the end of the contract" and "six or seven problems with players who do not accept being told that they will not be with us next season".
Among the likely departures is out-of-contract France international Tony Gigot, who rejected the offer of a new deal, which is now off the table after Guasch lost his patience with the player.
"We gave him all the cards this season. I am very affected by his attitude," Guasch said. "Tony Gigot does not listen to the right people. At some point, you have to be serious and I am."
Conversely, Guasch expressed his confidence in Steve McNamara, who joined the club on a three-and-a-half-year deal in June 2017.
Asked if the coach's position was in danger, Guasch said: "No. We will extend his contract in the coming weeks of one or two years more.
"I cannot overstate what Steve McNamara brought to the club, saving us (from relegation) in the Million Pound Game in 2017, winning the Cup in 2018 and this year we were third in June.
"I'm not one of those people who say, 'When we play a good game, the players are very good and when we lose and we're bad, the coach is bad'.
"We will learn from the good lessons to make 2020 a big year."
