
Castleford Tigers boss Danny McGuire has argued that the club did not do themselves any ‘justice’ with their performance against rivals Wakefield Trinity on Friday night.
In the Tigers’ first real game of the pre-season, having previously played a friendly against Valencia Hurracanes, Cas lost 32-8 against Wakefield in Luke Gale’s testimonial match.
Post-game, McGuire had claimed that the Tigers had had a “smack on the nose” and he gave a more in-depth analysis of the match that saw him assess where Castleford struggled.
“I don’t think we were quite at it so I’m a bit disappointed and I probably expected a little bit more with it being our first hit out,” he told club media.
“It’s hard to be too critical but I felt we probably didn’t do ourselves justice.
“I know it’s a friendly and there is not a lot riding on the outcome but I don’t think we did ourselves justice. There were some things that we wanted to get out of the game that we probably didn’t quite get.
“We all need to be better next week, me and staff included.”
Castleford Tigers look forward to Hull FC after Wakefield Trinity loss

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An inability to score points whilst being punished themselves was Castleford’s downfall but despite those limitations, McGuire found positives in both defence and attack.
He explained: “I thought our attitude to defence was good but technically was poor. We made some really poor decisions on the edge and Wakey punished us when they had opportunities.”
As for the team’s attack, he argued: “I think we only had three good ball sets in the whole game so we didn’t get chance to show any glimpses of attack but when we did, we looked alright.
“There’s loads for us to work on. We’re learning, we’ll get there and keep working hard.”
Castleford can right some of their wrongs next week when they take part in another testimonial game, this time for their veteran Joe Westerman, as the Tigers host the forward’s former club Hull FC.
Looking ahead, McGuire has argued that the fixture at the Jungle will be “a bit more real” as he called on his players to do the loose forward ‘justice’.
McGuire stated: “Next week will be a bit more real. We’ll go with less players and probably treat it as a real fixture, maybe take just 18 or 19.
“That needs to be better, it needs to look a little bit more like what we expect and we probably need to do Westy justice. He’s been a great player and a great servant to the game and to Cas so hopefully there is a great turnout for him.”
Positives noted for Cas including new signings

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Despite the heavy defeat against Wakefield, there were positives as McGuire noted: “Everybody got plenty of minutes so there are benefits even though it didnt go how we liked. Fingers cross we have come through ok and can have another good week in practice.”
Another positive was the introduction of several new signings, who McGuire is not expecting wonders from immediately as they adjust to their new environment.
“I thought they all had some glimpses,” he stated.
“I thought Judah Rimbu looked sharp when he came on at nine. I thought Daejarn’s kicking wasn’t as good as we would have liked but he’s working on new combinations and with Rowan Milnes going down that’s affected the fluidity.
“Jerry (Jeremiah Simbiken) didn’t get much ball but he worked hard. They’re going to take time, it doesn’t happen overnight.”
