England and Warriors fullback Sam Tomkins says his new Catalans Dragons team-mate Israel Folau is just as big a threat without the ball as he is with it.

The former Wallabies and Queensland State of Origin star is one of the biggest signings in Super League history and will be hoping to make it three wins from as many games when Salford visit Stade Gilbert Brutus on Saturday.

Folau made a big impact on his debut, scoring with his first touch in the Dragons’ 36-18 win over Castleford a fortnight ago, and helped set up the winning try at Hull last Sunday.

“I think teams have over-marked him,” Tomkins said.

“Castleford certainly did, they were putting a lot of defenders in front of him which made it pretty easy on the other side of the field.

“It was the same at the weekend at Hull. Ben Jullien scored two tries and they were both down to Josh Griffin being too worried about Israel Folau.

“I think as we play more and Izzy gets more used to us, we will see a bit more from him but it’s clear that he’s a real athlete and he’s going to do something special for us, hopefully.”

The visit of the Red Devils comes almost 12 months to the day since Ian Watson’s men pulled off a memorable 46-0 victory in Perpignan, of which Tomkins says the Dragons players need little reminding.

“At the time it was a bit of a shock,” he said. “We were way off the pace and it was probably a wake-up call for all of us of where we were.

“It showed no matter how good you train, you need to turn up at the weekend and play.

“It was probably the heaviest defeat I’ve ever experienced and it will be in the back of our minds.

“But it was 12 months ago and a lot has changed. We’ve got a much different group and so have Salford. We don’t feel we owe them one or anything but we don’t want to get beat like that again.”