Catalans Dragons will start the pre-season training next week.

The first group of 15 players will start on 12th November which includes Micky McIlorum, Rémi Casty, Greg Bird, Mika Simon, Antoni Maria, Kenny Edwards, Brayden Williame, Jodie Broughton, Julian Bousquet, Arthur Romano, Ben Garcia, Samisoni Langi, Paul Séguier and Arthur Mourgue.

New signing Matty Smith will take part into his first training session with the Dragons on the preseason Day 1.

19th of November will see David Mead and Lewis Tierney join the group before the 3rd of December having all internationals back in training, including Sam Tomkins and Matt Whitley.

Head of Performance Richard Hunwicks said: “The players face an intense and demanding period that will develop them physically in the period until Christmas. The six weeks will include strength testing with individual programmes, a significant number of fitness tests and core skill sessions.”

“The players will be prepared to be as strong as possible and as fit as possible in the period which then of course means they have to monitor that they eat enough and the right foods. Body composition is a high priority for this Dragons team, allowing us to perform to our best throughout the year.”

“Its an intense period for players where they are physically challenged to develop, hour by hour, session by session, day by day. The level of planning that goes into the physical preparation is significant and this is supported by the Head Coach with his gradual integration of the rugby needs.”

“Ultimately we need to be bigger faster fitter and stronger for Super League in 2019, as the programme develops into more specific rugby needs in January, the continued detailed communication between the performance staff and the coaches will help us achieve this. It will be exciting to see the attitude of the players and their determination to build a great foundation to be successful again in 2019.”