Steve McNamara calls on Chris Kendall to police the 10 metre rule as Catalans Dragons take on St Helens

Catalans Dragons head coach Steve McNamara is predicting another brutal clash against rivals St Helens in tomorrow’s Challenge Cup quarter-final and has called for strong refereeing from Chris Kendall. When the sides clashed on the opening night of the Super League season in February, defending champions Saints claimed a 28-8 home win.

A bruising encounter saw Gil Dudson was sinbinned for punching in the first minute and was banned for three games while Dylan Napa was sent off for a high tackle on Mark Percival and banned for four matches. McNamara insists the 10-metre rule must be strictly enforced by Kendall as the Dragons seek a victory in a rerun of last season’s Grand Final.

He said: “When we last played Saints back in February, it was a brutal, physical game and I think in that game we got one tackle wrong, which was Dylan Napa’s and he paid the price. I thought Gil Dudson was extremely unlucky because he got gouged in the first tackle of the game, had a slight reaction and suffered a three-match ban because of it.

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“It was difficult to take, but they were the rules as we were playing it. I think this game will be really physical as well with two teams who really want to go hard at each other – and will go hard at each other.

“But I think the discipline in general is going to be really important from both sets of players. I also think the officials are going to play a major part because the 10 metres has to be 10 metres and has to be adhered to.

“We don’t have to go back 12 or 13 metres but we have to be onside. To play the style that we want to play – and they want to play – it’s really important to have discipline this