Catalans Dragons boss Kevin Walters is refusing to rule out lifting silverware this season after his side sneaked into the Super League play-offs.

Needing to win at St Helens, few would have backed Walters' men to hold off Bradford's late charge for the top eight.

But that's just what the Dragons did, winning 24-12, thanks to first-half scores from Dimitri Pelo, Casey McGuire, before Jean-Philippe Baile and full-back Clint Greenshields crossed in the second period.

Former Brisbane star Walters, who had felt the wrath of Dragons chairman Bernard Gausch following their defeat to Wakefield last week, insists the French outfit can carry the momentum into the play-offs.

"If we put it together like we did here then we can get results like this over the next few weeks," Walters said.

"We understand that St Helens had less to play for than us and were down a bit but there was a lot of pressure on our players from a lot of different sources and I'm delighted for them.

"I was particularly happy with our defence because it's been lacking at times but there was a lot more sting in our tackles."

Huddersfield coach Nathan Brown paid a glowing tribute to fullback and captain Brett Hodgson after another brilliant display from the former NSW star in the 48-16 hammering of Wigan that secured third place for the Giants.

The former Wests Tiger, who is one of the favourites to land the Man of Steel award, scored a try and landed eight goals as Huddersfield recorded their biggest over Wigan in the Super League era.

And Brown said: "He was outstanding again but that's what he has been like all season for us.

"He's one of the main reasons why we finished so high up the table.

"But it's important that we went into the play-offs with a win and this was a great win for us."

Meanwhile, there was despair for Bradford boss Steve McNamara as he saw his side claim their fifth win on the bounce, beating Hull 21-18 but still miss out on the play-offs.

McNamara, who has endured a difficult season from the expectant Bulls faithful, admitted their dreadful start to the campaign had come back to haunt them.

"We've not lost it at Hull; we've missed out because of earlier in the season," McNamara said.

"We lost some games when we should have won, we had an awful amount of bad luck and misfortune at the start of the season and we compounded that by throwing some games away ourselves.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP