Apparently Matt Cook was captain for this match. The match report can be read here > www.londonbroncosrl.com/news/515 ... uU4CHk4knY

London Broncos head coach Tony Rea was delighted with his squad's first game of the year against Catalan Dragons in Perpignan.

Despite the 16-12 defeat, the result of a Dragons try just minutes from the final whistle, Rea was full of praise for the performance of his players in testing conditions.

Playing with a strong wind at their backs the Broncos led 12-4 at half-time through tries from James Greenwood and Mike McMeeken, both converted by Mike Bishay. The second half proved tougher against the elements although they were twice held up over the line before the home side got the decisive score.

The match was played over 80 minutes with unlimited interchanges. The Broncos took a 20-man squad which included their latest recruits James Duckworth, an outside back from Leeds Rhinos and hooker James Cunningham from Hull FC, both are 19. Oxford Cavaliers winger Sean Morris also joined the squad and injured players Kieran Dixon, Illiess Macani and Mason Caton-Brown were also included in the party.

Neither team were at full strength but the Dragons, including the likes of Scott Dureau and Morgan Escare, had the more experienced line up.

"It was a very good workout for us," said Rea. "It was good for us to get away together as a group. We travelled with some of the injured guys as well so we were united. We worked hard and were probably a little too keen and over enthusiastic at times, which led to errors, but we were resilient when those errors occurred.

"We used 20 players, 13 of whom were debutants. We only had one foreign passport and that belonged to Nessie Mataitonga who had a Tongan one. The only Australian passport was that of the coach!

"We took Harvey Burnett, Jon Wallace and Toby Everett from the Academy who were terrific both on and off the field and we rotated everybody. "

Hookers Scott Moore and James Cunningham were key performers and Mike Bishay impressed with his kicking game. As ever the Dragons fielded a big pack forwards but the Broncos forwards more than held their own.

"The packs took it to each other with the spoils pretty even and the score line reflected that," said Rea. "We probably lost the game on one error but the things we wanted to do well we did do well."

Oxford Cavalier Morris acquitted himself well on the wing and Rea said that both Hemel Stags and London Skolars will have players training with the Broncos in the coming week, thus strengthening the ties between the club and Championship One sides in the South.

Summing up the trip Rea said: "We went over there as a group of blokes who had been training together and walked off the field a team."

The Broncos take on Leeds Rhinos at Headingley on Friday, kick off 8pm.

Broncos team v Catalan Dragons:

Nesiasi Mataitonga: James Duckworth, Thomas Minns, Will Lovell, Harvey Burnett; James Woodburn Hall, Mike Bishay; George Griffin, Scott Moore, Erjon Dollapi, Mike McMeeken, Matt Cook (capt), Alex Foster. Interchange: James Greenwood, Olsi Krasniqi, James Cunningham, Sean Morris, Joel Wicks, Toby Everett, Jon Wallace

Apparently Matt Cook was captain for this match. The match report can be read here > www.londonbroncosrl.com/news/515 ... uU4CHk4knY

London Broncos head coach Tony Rea was delighted with his squad's first game of the year against Catalan Dragons in Perpignan.

Despite the 16-12 defeat, the result of a Dragons try just minutes from the final whistle, Rea was full of praise for the performance of his players in testing conditions.

Playing with a strong wind at their backs the Broncos led 12-4 at half-time through tries from James Greenwood and Mike McMeeken, both converted by Mike Bishay. The second half proved tougher against the elements although they were twice held up over the line before the home side got the decisive score.

The match was played over 80 minutes with unlimited interchanges. The Broncos took a 20-man squad which included their latest recruits James Duckworth, an outside back from Leeds Rhinos and hooker James Cunningham from Hull FC, both are 19. Oxford Cavaliers winger Sean Morris also joined the squad and injured players Kieran Dixon, Illiess Macani and Mason Caton-Brown were also included in the party.

Neither team were at full strength but the Dragons, including the likes of Scott Dureau and Morgan Escare, had the more experienced line up.

"It was a very good workout for us," said Rea. "It was good for us to get away together as a group. We travelled with some of the injured guys as well so we were united. We worked hard and were probably a little too keen and over enthusiastic at times, which led to errors, but we were resilient when those errors occurred.

"We used 20 players, 13 of whom were debutants. We only had one foreign passport and that belonged to Nessie Mataitonga who had a Tongan one. The only Australian passport was that of the coach!

"We took Harvey Burnett, Jon Wallace and Toby Everett from the Academy who were terrific both on and off the field and we rotated everybody. "

Hookers Scott Moore and James Cunningham were key performers and Mike Bishay impressed with his kicking game. As ever the Dragons fielded a big pack forwards but the Broncos forwards more than held their own.

"The packs took it to each other with the spoils pretty even and the score line reflected that," said Rea. "We probably lost the game on one error but the things we wanted to do well we did do well."

Oxford Cavalier Morris acquitted himself well on the wing and Rea said that both Hemel Stags and London Skolars will have players training with the Broncos in the coming week, thus strengthening the ties between the club and Championship One sides in the South.

Summing up the trip Rea said: "We went over there as a group of blokes who had been training together and walked off the field a team."

The Broncos take on Leeds Rhinos at Headingley on Friday, kick off 8pm.

Broncos team v Catalan Dragons:

Nesiasi Mataitonga: James Duckworth, Thomas Minns, Will Lovell, Harvey Burnett; James Woodburn Hall, Mike Bishay; George Griffin, Scott Moore, Erjon Dollapi, Mike McMeeken, Matt Cook (capt), Alex Foster. Interchange: James Greenwood, Olsi Krasniqi, James Cunningham, Sean Morris, Joel Wicks, Toby Everett, Jon Wallace

Tackling needs to tighten a little, but for a first match together it looks promising, Catalan looked sharp, tries on Dragons TV

https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZD5-LkQEJuI

Tackling needs to tighten a little, but for a first match together it looks promising, Catalan looked sharp, tries on Dragons TV

https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZD5-LkQEJuI