McNamara leads Leigh to victory over dad’s Dragons

Betfred Super League

Leigh (12) 26

Ipape, McNamara, O’Neill, Trout Goals: McNamara 5

Catalans (14) 24

Leigh Leopards defeated his father Steve’s Dragons and Catalans in the opening game of the 2025 Magic Weekend with a personal 14-point haul led to a comeback victory.

After Matthieu Laguerre and Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet’s brilliant solo effort gave the Dragons an early lead, McNamara scored a try and kicked five goals out of five.

Leigh was in control after Edwin Ipape and McNamara scored two points at half-time. Reimis Smith increased the lead once more with tries from Ethan O’Neill and Owen Trout, plus McNamara’s flawless kicking record, and McNamara added more.

Both teams advanced to St James’ Park after winning four straight games, which included the Challenge Cup semi-finals and next week’s top six.

Catalans appeared to be the team that was carrying that form into this game as they took a 12-point lead in 16 minutes when Laguerre leapt ahead of Josh Charnley to collect Theo Fages’ chip and send it over the line.

Aispuro-Bichet, a youngster who is currently playing full-back for the French side, lit up the Newcastle venue by weaving through a dubious Leigh defense for another score and added both conversions to give his side the lead.

Leigh finally woke up as Ipape span out of a fifth attempt before another one of the posts appeared to be sluggish and veered off.

Leigh were back within two points by half-time thanks to McNamara’s quick play-the-ball and penalty, which Aispuro-Bichet scored again to open up space between the teams.

Leigh and the other teams clearly gained momentum as a result, especially as Catalans’ inspiring captain Ben Garcia missed a second half recovery from a broken foot.

Smith rose from his knees after an unfinished tackle, but Aispuro-Bichet’s conversion attempt hit the post, a miss that would cost. The Dragons then extended their lead.

With McNamara adding the extras and a penalty to give Leigh the lead for the first time in the game, Lachlan Lam’s high kick was intercepted by O’Neill to give them the lead at the break.

Catalans suddenly needed two scores after Trout added another try and McNamara’s accuracy again.

Adrian Lam, head coach for Leigh, stated:

When you’re playing a team like Catalans, it’s the last thing you want to do, and we gave them a little bit of a start very early in the game.

I was pleased with our team’s resilience and perseverance, as well as being unified to win the game right away at half-time, which is a significant play.

It definitely helps those games where there are so many players out. With a lot of new faces and a lot of changes, it definitely brings the team together, in my opinion.

Steve McNamara, the head coach of the Catalans, stated:

“I thought our performance was terrible. You must credit the opposition for getting the job done, and they have already found ways to do that.

Wilde, Brogan, Davis, and Dwyer make interchanges.

Catalans: Yaha, Laguerre, Smith, Cotric, Keary, Garcia, Bousquet, Sims, Whitehead, Partington, Yaha, Laguerre, Smith, Cotric,

Da Costa, Satae, Navarrete, and Sironen are the exchanges.