Catalans Dragons are delighted to announce the appointment of Steve McNamara as Head Coach.

The 45-year-old is the current assistant coach at the New Zealand Warriors. He has signed a three-and-a-half year contract and will arrive at Perpignan tomorrow.

Steve McNamara said: “I am honoured to be appointed as the Head Coach of the Catalans Dragons. The club has a huge potential and I look forward to working closely with the current group of staff and players, helping the team to improve in all areas of our performance and organization.”

McNamara played more than 300 top-level games for Great Britain, Hull FC, Bradford, Wakefield and Huddersfield from 1989-2003 before moving into coaching.

First as Bradford Academy Headcoach, leading them to Grand Final success in his first year before being promoted as Bradford Bulls headcoach in from 2006 to 2010. He left Bradford in 2010, named England headcoach from 2010 to 2015.

McNamara became assistant coach to Trent Robinson at the Sydney Roosters after the 2013 World Cup and he joined New Zealand Warriors for the start of the 2017 season.

Jérôme Guisset and Michael Monaghan will both remain as part of Steve’s coaching staff as assistants.

Catalans Dragons Chairman Bernard Guasch said : “The signing of Steve McNamara is a great news for our club. My wish was to find an English coach, recognized and respected in his country and in this competition and the choice of Steve, the former England coach, was the best in my opinion. He expressed his desire to come in France to lead the Dragons and we were lucky that he was available immediately. I hope he will help the team to earn confidence and ambition in this difficult period. He will arrive at Perpignan tomorrow with a first important game on Saturday at Warrington.”