I know the season opener is just over a week away but how does everyone feel about the news coming out of the South of France

[iCatalan Dragons will go into their opening Super League match at Bradford without a specialist winger.

With last year's leading try-scorer Damien Blanch still recovering from wrist surgery, the Dragons have been rocked by the injuries suffered by French internationals Cyril Stacul and Frederic Vaccari in Saturday's 44-22 friendly victory over London Broncos.

Stacul will be out of action for up to 12 weeks with a broken ankle while Vaccari was seeing a specialist amid fears that his knee injury could keep him out for at least two months.

Fellow winger Joseph Negre has already been ruled out for the entire season after rupturing his cruciate ligament while playing for the Catalans' feeder club UTC in the French Championship.[/i

Even with the likes of Blanch, Stacul and Vaccari missing, you still have to say that the Dragons will start as favourites.

The hashtag #BraCat at the end of the topic name is an idea that was tried and tested towards the end of last season over on Total Rugby League.

The game it was used for Warrington vs Leeds (#WarLee) ended up trending.

Maybe it's worth a go for those members who are on Twitter to try #BraCat for any Twitter discussions/score updates about the game.

Clint Greenshields is going to be on the wing this year for Cats. And he got a hat trick at the weekend.

They will still be a force but am feeling we could just edge this one.
Bring on the nail biting and holding on for the hooter for a hard fought win!

Think it will be a tough game and a close one.

I'd love us to start the season with a win, but I agree with Mick that Cats should be favourites.

If we click and L'Estrange, Diskin and Gale combine and create though there's no reason we couldn't win.

I'll be happy with a positive and determined performance, but I would be absolutely delighted with a win.

The game greenshields got a hat trick in - did he not get two tries from full back before robinson shifted bosc to full back?

to me Bosc at full back will be rusty as it is a while since he played there and it will take a lot from greenshields been further from the ruck as that is where he has been most successful. think we are more likely to see sa millard fighting it out for the wing and then menzies,baille or bosc/pryce at centre. Is Vincent Duport not still with them? thought he resigned? They have options do not be fooled!!
Cant wait for that game now.

I'm sure he can do a job anywhere from 1 to 7 but for me Greenshields talent will be wasted on the wing, this has to be a positive for us.

It'll be interesting to see just how effective the Diskin to Gale combination play is tomorrow afternoon at the KC Stadium.

I hope supporters favourite Phil Joseph really proves beyond a doubt that he's staying a Bradford Bulls player for 2012 in what should be the most physical games we've played yet.

Think Catalans should edge this. They had a superb season last year and if they had have started well, would have been top 4. The bulk of the squad is the same so need for anyone to gel, and they have two excellent additions in Pryce & Anderson. Catalans are everyones dark horses to be champions. I think they've got an excellent chance of silverware and will probably make the final. Home advntage could count for us though.

One player we'll need to watch is Leon. There's no chance of him doing his 'disappearing act' against us, especially on his debut, so much will depend on how well we limit his impact on the game.

We could always just smash him everytime he has the ball?

Smash him like they were smashing a feed at Nandos..

Set Tom Burgess on him.

We shouldn't think it will be an easy rise, they could shock us

Steady on, you know how much Leon likes to tackle the Burgess clan

edited for accuracy.

Bosc started at fb and greenshields on wing..bosc got 2 tries as well.

So they will have Bosc at 1, Greenshields at 2/5, Pryce at 6 and Dureau at 7. No doubt they will have Menzies in the centres to strengthen a wing. Well if they have brains they will.

A team with Bosc, Dureaux, Pryce and Menzies in it should have enough creativity and skill to score tries from anywhere on the pitch. We will need to put in a really good performance to stand any chance at all of beating these guys.
Our only hope is that the cold weather puts them out of their stride a little, next week's forecast is not looking good at all so they could be arriving from the sunny south of france into sub zero temperatures!

Well the game tomorrow against Hull should give us a better idea of where we are in terms of being a cohesive unit.

Yeah i would be looking to see all our practise from the off season put into play today against Hull. Last chance to try out the plays before we get to the serious stuff!

Catalans will definitely be a threat but with a good start and some support i think hopefully we can hold out for a good hard win!

I don't think anyone has said it 's going to be easy, 'cos it won't be.

Gotta get the line up and in their faces. Once Henderson starts running with the ball from dummy half it's all over.

We need to muscle up in the forwards after today's performance. If we can match Catalan up front we should give Gale enough of a platform to spread the ball.

It's deja vu. All over again.

Not a prayer based on today's performance. I've not seen much cause for optimism in the friendlies. Think we're looking at another hard slog. Catalans may well have a field day if they come up with early scores.