Catalans Dragons (30) 44

T : Josh Drinkwater 3, Greg Bird, Louis Anderson, Julian Bousquet, Kenny Edwards, Lewis Tierney
G : Josh Drinkwater 6

Castleford Tigers (10) 16

T : James Clare, Quentin Laulu-Togaga’e, Paul McShane
G : Jamie Ellis 2

Josh Drinkwater scored a hat-trick of tries and kicked six goals in a man-of-the-match performance as Catalans Dragons won 44-16 against Castleford Tigers to climb into the Betfred Super League top eight.

His 24-point game boosted the Dragons' prospects of avoiding the turmoil of the Million Pound Game they encountered last year.

Greg Bird, Louis Anderson, Julian Bousquet, Kenny Edwards and Lewis Tierney also scored in the rout of the visitors.

James Clare, Quentin Laulu-Togagae and Paul McShane crossed the whitewash for Castleford, with Jamie Ellis kicking two goals.

The Tigers were second best in every department despite landing in Perpignan earlier in the week.

The win for Catalans means they are in the top eight for the first time in 2018.

Match report

Dragons : Gigot, Tierney, Mead, Wiliame, Yaha, Langi, Drinkwater, Casty, McIlorum, Simon, Jullien, Garcia, Bird
Subs: Anderson, Bousquet, Baitieri, Edwards

Castleford : Laulu-Togaga’e, Egodo, Webster, Shenton, Clare, Ellis, Trueman, Watts, McShane, Sene-Lefao, Moors, Holmes, Massey
Subs: Millington, Cook, Springer, Clark

Stadium : Gilbert Brutus

Referee: Robert Hicks

Man of the match : Josh Drinkwater

Attendance: 10 236