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The Catalan side have played better, tougher rugby than their results suggest. Photo: Getty

"You still much, George?" he asked, with me having partly taken on his mantle as a Yorkshire rugby league man trying to fly the flag while exiled in the capital.

"Most weeks. They often play really well and ," was my reply.

"Now you understand what I went through down there," he nodded. "Those who don't come to the games and just see the results assume Quins are poor, but they really aren't," he said.

I digress slightly, but the Dragons are another team often judged on by those of us, including myself, who struggle to find a window for a trip to the .

Indeed Friday was just the second time this season I've managed to see Trent Robinson's side in the flesh and I was impressed, . For those not at Headingley, a quick glance at the 30-6 scoreline would, as McDermott points out, prompt the conclusion that the favourites eased through.

That was anything but the truth as a Dragons side without nine injured first-teamers - including effervescent playmaker , classy centre and - frustrated the former champions before a very late flourish.

"This is a very tough, very committed team," said McDermott of this season's Dragons, who trailed just 6-0 at half-time at Headingley having gone into the game as Super League's form team, unbeaten in six.

"That was the most disciplined and toughest Catalan team that I have seen. We had a lot of possession and just couldn't break them down. We had to go through long periods of battling it out."

The Dragons' first-half resilience last week was remarkable. Leeds battered their line and forced five goal-line drop-outs in quick succession, but the depleted Catalan pack stood firm, with Jamal Fakir and David Ferriol as brutal as ever and Setaimata Sa a powerful make-shift half-back in the absence of Dureau.

Only a flurry of late tries from Zak Hardaker and Rob Burrow made it look easy for Leeds. It wasn't.

So how have the Dragons rebuilt from Super League's bottom side last season, to a strong play-off presence in the jostle for a top-eight place? Or was last season just a blip? Prior to that rock bottom finish, the Dragons had in each of the .

McDermott believes the change in coaching staff is key. , a man who both speaks French and is keen to promote young French talent.

"You have to give those players and the coaching staff a lot of credit for what is happening over there," says McDermott. "He (Robinson) is building from underneath."

Indeed the Dragons' saw 13 French players in a 17-man squad. France coach Bobbie Goulding has been for some time.

The Dragons' Challenge Cup run takes them to Huddersfield this weekend, in fact they are on the road for the whole of May, yet another obstacle for the Perpignan players to overcome in their bid to make an impact on Super League.

I watched last week's Rhinos-Dragons game with who will go up against the monster Catalan pack this weekend.

"I don't know how they deal with all that travelling," Crabtree told me. "I see as a bit of a hike so god knows how those boys rack up the air miles. They must have very understanding wives!"

Crabtree described the Dragons pack as "brutal" and playing against them as one of his toughest Super League games of the season.

Amusingly at half-time in Leeds, he was collared by a middle-aged lady supporting the Rhinos. "You're not as big as those French guys out there tonight," she told him. The slightly stunned 6'7" Crabtree replied that he was the biggest player in Super League.

By the way, if you were wondering why he celebrated his two-try performance for Huddersfield against St Helens the following day which such gusto, it was the trademark relief of a prop forward managing to avoid the end of season nude run that serves as a forfeit to any non-try scorer!

So I look forward to seeing the Giants and Dragons packs going toe to toe in the Challenge Cup this weekend. Yet in writing a piece highlighting the rise of the Catalan club, I am wary of the commentator's curse. Or the curse of this blog. Pieces praising the progress of both Harlequins and Castleford this season have yielded disastrous results subsequently for the subject matter. It is the opposite of the Midas touch, the remarkable knack of triggering the calamitous, as championed so brilliantly by Kevin Keegan during England's France 98 World Cup campaign.

"There's only one team that's going to win this now, and that's England," proclaimed Kev. .

So if the Perpignan side get knocked out of the Challenge Cup this weekend then I apologise in advance.