Castleford Tigers boss explains squad call and gives Hull FC verdict

Coach Danny McGuire was unable to name a full 21-man squad for the game after two players were ruled out this week.

Second-rower Jeremiah Simbiken suffered a hamstring injury in last Saturday’s loss to Catalans Dragons and loose-forward George Hill – who was 18th man for that game – has joined Salford Red Devils on loan.

Centre Josh Hodson is back in contention for Tigers, but McGuire decided against calling in one of the club’s youngsters to make up the numbers.

Leaving a space in the squad would allow McGuire to draft in a new signing, but Castleford so far haven’t been able to add any more fresh faces following prop Brad Singleton’s arrival from Salford last week.

“I’ve got a couple of young lads who we could have probably put in the 21, but I didn’t feel like they were ready for it or had earned that opportunity yet,” he said.

“Their time will come and we decided to go with 20. There’s obviously a fair bit going on regarding recruitment, but it was down to the fact that’s the 20 we’ve got available and ready to play.”

That makes a tough task even harder, but McGuire reckons the 17 he fields this evening are ready to deal with a much-improved Hull outfit.

The visitors are third in the table and have already bettered last year’s points total, with only five rounds played.

“They look a lot more resilient this year,” McGuire noted. “They are keeping themselves in games and finding a way to get the job done.

“That’s a great characteristic to have. John Carwright [Hull’s coach] has got a lot of experience and seems like he has got them enjoying playing again, which is something you haven’t associated with Hull FC over the last couple of years.

“He has done a really good job so far and it’ll be a big challenge for us. They are playing with confidence and some players are playing really well – [Herman] Ese’ese, [Aidan] Sezer, [John] Asiata.

“I’m a big fan of the young full-back [Logan Moy] and winger [Lewis] Martin as well. It’ll be a good challenge for us, but one I feel we can meet and we are ready for.”

Last weekend’s 26-4 defeat by Catalans was played in heavy rain at the Jungle and McGuire is hoping for more favourable conditions.

“You need to be able to adapt and those conditions changed literally just before kick-off,” he reflected.

“Our plan was to try and move the ball and exploit some of their bigger middles, but we couldn’t quite do that in the conditions.

“When we did it, we looked threatening. I feel like our strengths are moving the ball and being expansive and hopefully we’ll see that now the weather is picking up and the tracks are getting drier.”

But the Castleford Tigers coach warned: “If we’re going to allow our players to do that, we need to be able to defend.

“We’re probably not quite where we need to be in both those departments at this minute, but we will get there.”

It’s Gameday! 👊

Fords, lets be loud and proud tonight as we welcome @hullfcofficial to The Jungle 🔥#COYF 🐯 pic.twitter.com/ntwGxqqjlo

— Castleford Tigers (@CTRLFC) March 27, 2025