Dragons v Giants: Teams
Kevin Walters has named a full-strength squad while Brett Hodgson is set to captain Huddersfield for the first time.
Last Updated: 14/02/09 3:44pm
New Catalans Dragons coach Kevin Walters will field a virtually full-strength team when they host Huddersfield Giants.
Second-rower Sebastien Raguim, recovering from a knee reconstruction, is the only notable absentee and new Australian signings Jason Ryles, Steven Bell and Shane Perry are all expected to make debuts.
New Huddersfield captain Brett Hodgson will lead out the Giants for the first time, while fellow off-season signing Simon Finnigan is also expected to debut.
Scott Moore and Shaun Lunt are also set to make their first appearances for Huddersfield after being named in Nathan Brown's 19-man squad.
But the English club will be without hooker David Faimu after he returned home to New Zealand on compassionate leave.
Stronger
Catalans won all three of the Super League clashes between the two sides last season and Giants head coach Brown believes his side will have their work cut out to get a result this time.
He singled out the Perpignan-based team's new signings from overseas as particularly dangerous.
"He (Ryles) is a quality player, and so is Steve Bell at centre," the Australian told the club's official website.
"They have probably got a stronger squad than they had last year. They have got a new coach and a new half-back (Shane Perry), plus we haven't been able to watch any footage of them as they had a couple of pre-season games cancelled.
"What they did last year was really impressive so they will be tough. We can only really control how we are going to prepare and play, which is important to us."
Les Catalans squad: Greenshields, Stacul, Bell, Mogg, Pelo, Bosc, Perry, Ferriol, McGuire, Guisset, Croker, Mounis, Carlaw, Baile, Elima, Gossard, Fakir, Ryles, Casty.
Huddersfield squad: Hodgson, Aspinwall, Brown, Whatuira, Hodgson, Robinson, Crabtree, Griffin, Lolesi, Raleigh, Wild, Finnigan, Jackson, Mason, Kirmond, Lawrence, Moore, Cudjoe, Lunt.