While 10 of the other 11 Super League clubs have been warm-weather training, the French-based Dragons have been getting used to English conditions.

"It's about getting players used to the surroundings," said chief executive Grant Mayer. "We're probably going to be in the UK 15 times this year.

"It's important we get used to the travel, hotels and food."

The Dragons have suffered defeats in both their pre-season friendlies, one of them a nine-try thrashing by Harlequins.

But captain Stacey Jones insists they will be ready to take on Wigan in their first match at Stade Aime Giral a week on Saturday.

"It would have been great to have done better and won those games to get some confidence going in, but we know where we're going and where we need to get to," he said.

"We've got a lot of work to do. We're going to put a good team into the competition and it's going to improve each week."

On Wednesday, the club unveiled a sponsorship deal with airline bmibaby, who will start daily direct flights from Manchester to Perpignan in March.

The Dragons also plan to announce a pay-per-view television deal for their entire home programme next week, while season ticket sales are approaching 1,000.

Meanwhile, director of football David Waite has drawn up a shortlist of candidates for the vacant coaching position and the club intends to carry out interviews later this week.