Catalans Dragons cast aside their faltering form to gain a crushing 46-8 victory in their first appearance in the engage Super League play-offs against a patched-up and outclassed Warrington.

The Perpignan club finished the regular season with just one win from six matches but clearly had their minds on the Grand Final Series and normal service was resumed as they cruised to a home semi-final against Wigan next Saturday.

Australian winger Justin Murphy, who is out of contract at the end of the season, provided a timely reminder of his try-scoring prowess for the Dragons with four tries while scrum-half Thomas Bosc contributed 14 points on his return from injury.

Leeds or St Helens still lie in wait further down the line but Saturday's impressive performance underlined the Catalans' status as genuine title challengers.

Two tries in 10 minutes from Murphy midway through the first half put the France-based side in firm control in front of a partisan 8,442 crowd in party mood at the Gilbert Brutus Stadium.

Warrington were booed off the pitch after their final home game but they were at least spared that ignominy on Saturday, with less than 50 hardy supporters making the trip to France, accompanied by a couple of Bradford fans who had booked the flight in anticipation of watching their team in action.

Warrington coach James Lowes fielded all three of his injury doubts, including captain Adrian Morley, in a desperate bid to keep his club's season alive.

Morley showed little sign of feeling his stomach muscle injury but he fought a losing cause as the Wolves faced a repeat of the 52-14 hammering they received in Perpignan in June.

Chris Hicks, the first man to score in every league match for Warrington, gave his side the lead with an early penalty and they put the Dragons defence under pressure without managing to breach their line.

With skilful Australians Casey McGuire and Adam Mogg prompting, the Catalans looked far more potent on attack and the visiting defence soon wilted in the face of some penetrative running from second rower Jamal Fakir.

Murphy took Bosc's cut-out pass to touch down on 18 minutes and then wrong-footed his opposite number Kevin Penny for his second try.

A second error from centre Matt King ensured Warrington remained under the cosh and Bosc made them pay with another try nine minutes before the break, re-gathering possession after Martin Gleeson had succeeded only in knocking the ball to ground.

Bosc then found Dimitri Pelo unmarked on the left wing to create a fourth try and landed a third conversion to give his side a 20-point cushion at the break.

Warrington's fragile defence cracked again three minutes into the second half when McGuire pulled out of an attempted tackle by Paul Wood to touch down and Bosc's fourth goal made it 28-2.

The Wolves could do little right and, even when Hick jinked his way through the home defence, he had the ball knocked from his grasp by Bosc as he was about to touch down.

Warrington eventually gained some consolation when loose forward Simon Grix supported a break by Michael Monaghan to score but the Dragons cut loose with four further tries in the final quarter.

Murphy followed up John Wilson's kick to the corner to complete his hat-trick, second-rower Gregory Mounis finished off a slick handling move, and Mogg sent full-back Clint Greenshields sprinting 40 metres for his 18th try of the season.

Wilson then broke clear to send the prolific Murphy over for his fourth try to put the seal on victory.