Castleford Tigers boss Danny McGuire backs his players to get it right with hard work
Despite suffering a heavy defeat against St Helens to make it three losses from their first three competitive games in 2025 head coach Danny McGuire is still backing his Castleford Tigers players to get it right.
The Tigers have shown glimpses of what they are capable of in all three of their matches so far, but have not been able to sustain it for long enough to bring about a victory yet and McGuire knows a big improvement is needed.
He said: “Our challenge is always going to be trying to find some consistency with our actions.
"But I just feel that when it gets tough and when it really starts to bite we are not able to do our job properly. The better players do the job when it’s tough and you’re tired – we aren’t in a position to do that at the minute.
"We’ll get there, but we’re not there yet.
"I think this squad has the capability. Some players are probably not where we’d like them to be and we are going to keep working with them, educating them. Some players weren’t good enough (against St Helens) and it wasn’t a true reflection of their true capabilities.”
McGuire is pleased with developments off the pitch that are continuing, but believes results and performances are crucial to keep the Tigers on the up.
He explained: “We’ve got to get it right on the field otherwise we’re just wasting our time.
“There are some really good things happening and there’s some good visions to try and create a place that we’re proud of.
“That’s all right, but we’ve got to get it right on the field. The on-field product is everything – everything else is secondary.
"At the minute we aren’t getting it right on the field so we need to keep working, keep trying to help our players to improve and grow. Keep putting them in positions in practice where it’s tough.
"It’s going to take a bit of time, but you don’t have it in sport – everybody wants it right now.”
The big games keep coming for McGuire and Castleford as they now travel to Headingley to face West Yorkshire rivals Leeds Rhinos on Sunday and McGuire wants to see more passion in his team’s display.
He added: “I felt there should have been energy, passion and desire with it being our first home game and such a good crowd, but we just didn’t really get that.
"I’m worried that, if we didn’t get it in this situation, can we find it next week? I hope we can and can’t see why we wouldn’t.
"Leeds-Cas games are always big games, there’s passion and rivalry and it means a lot to both sets of fans.
"I need to get the players in a position to go and play well and play with pride and fighting spirit.
"We haven’t done it (against St Helens) and I’ll be hoping we have a response. But we have a fair bit to sort out.”