Castleford Tigers boss Danny McGuire has confirmed another injury blow after his side’s shock Challenge Cup exit against Bradford Bulls, a game that saw the Tigers test out a brand-new spine combination on account of their ongoing injuries.
Bradford put in a brilliant performance to defeat the Super League side as they won 18-16 with Tex Hoy pulling a last-minute conversion wide that would have taken the game to golden point, something that would have been incredibly harsh on the Championship club.
McGuire spoke post-match on BBC Radio Leeds where he explained that he was “frustrated and a little bit angry”, however, he gave credit for his side’s character in putting in a much-improved second-half performance.
He also confirmed the difficulties his side have faced in pre-season and with selection as a result of injuries, with another senior player going down and missing the game.
“We had a nine, six, seven and one that’s not played together and not really trained a lot together,” McGuire explained.
“DJ (Daejarn Asi) came in late, Tex (Hoy) hadn’t trained, we’ve got some excuses but I ain’t going to use them.”
Fletcher Rooney and Judah Rimbu were the other spine players as a result of Rowan Milnes injured and Liam Horne also missing out.
Castleford Tigers boss discusses injury issues as second-rower joins casualty list
Credit: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com
Despite that lack of experience on account of injuries, new signings and youth in Rooney’s case, McGuire insisted that his side should be performing better – something he claims they do in training.
He argued: “They’re all experienced players, they’re all professional players, and we are just a little bit off offensively.
“We look good in training but it’s easy in training, it’s about replicating when it matters under pressure in a really tough environment.”
Having denied any excuses, he doubled down on that but did reveal that second-rower Alex Mellor is another name added to the casualty list.
McGuire said: “It is what it is, I’m easy with injuries. I’ve seen it throughout my playing career and in coaching now. If you spend your time worrying about players getting injured or the ones that are out there then you ain’t got a chance.
“We missed Mells (Alex Mellor) today, we missed his experience and his leadership but actually I thought Josh Hodson was very good in the back row.
“We’re in a tough position, we’ve got a couple of wingers missing, a back-rower missing, a half-back missing and are probably a little bit light in the middle but until somebody tells me otherwise I’ll keep soldiering on and coaching my players.”
McGuire confirmed that Mellor’s absence was on account of a hamstring injury, something he claimed is ‘normally a few weeks’.
