The RFL

Catalans Dragons forward Gregory Mounis believes his side have revived their hopes of winning engage Super League.

The mood in the French side’s camp has been transformed in the past fortnight with a sensational comeback victory over Bradford Bulls in the Challenge Cup followed by Easter wins over Harlequins RL and Wigan Warriors.

The Dragons had lost their previous five fixtures to leave their hopes of improving on last year’s third place in tatters but Mounis claims that run has now been consigned to history.

Mounis said: “In relation to the beginning of the season it’s totally different, the the team has completely changed.

“Everything is more positive. We’ve become a closely-knit team and we are really enjoy playing.

“Our objective is to win the Super League and to have a good run in the cup.

“I hope we can continue to play well and get more good results. The next three games are very important for the Catalans and we have to win them all.”

Catalans face another improving side, Salford Reds, in Perpignan tonight before travelling to Hull KR next week and then facing champions Leeds Rhinos at the Magic Weekend in Edinburgh.

Mounis admits it has been difficult to put a finger on why it has taken the Dragons so long to find their stride under new coach Kevin Walters.

“It’s very difficult to explain, we don’t really know,” the 24-year-old added.

“Perhaps it was a lack of cohesion between the players and we also had three new players.

“We had a bad start but once we found each other last time we went on to achieve a lot. Our level is improving and we are starting to become more efficient.”

One of their new signings is Australian playmaker Greg Bird, who joined the club after being denied a UK visa to join Bradford.

Salford coach Shaun McRae, looking to follow up his side’s Easter wins over Warrington Wolves and Leeds, admits former Cronulla star Bird is the man to stop.

McRae said: “Greg Bird is world-class, there's no doubt about it. He is an outstanding player for them and we have to be aware of that.

“Having said that, we have some players who are in a pretty rich vein of form themselves.”

Champions Leeds face a stern test as they travel to in-form Huddersfield on the back of consecutive Super League losses to Bradford and Salford.

Defeat by more than 16 points would lift the Giants into top spot in the table ahead of St Helens’ trip to Castleford Tigers tomorrow.

Rhinos coach Brian McClennan said: “They are full of confidence after their recent run of good results and we know we will be in for a big challenge.

“Huddersfield have got a good kick-chase game which we will need to combat. They do the fundamentals of the game very well and that is something we need to improve on.”

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