Castleford Tigers have confirmed the appointment of their new head coach after Craig Lingard’s shock exit.
Despite guiding the Tigers to a 10th-placed finish with far more points than in 2023, Lingard was relieved of his duties on Monday with new owner Martin Jepson wasting no time to put his own stamp on the club.
Just days later and Jepson has got his man to replace Lingard with Castleford Tigers confirming that assistant coach Danny McGuire will ascend to the head coaching role after signing a three-year deal.
McGuire had been heavily touted as the man to replace Lingard and that has now been confirmed with the former Leeds Rhinos playing legend making waves in the coaching sphere.
Prior to joining Castleford Tigers as an assistant coach for the 2023 season, the former Rhino had been a coach at Hull KR, taking on an interim role before then serving as an assistant under Willie Peters.
Factor in his decorated playing career and there will be few men better schooled to take on a Super League head coaching role, something that Martin Jepson seems to believe.
Castleford Tigers hire Danny McGuire
Castleford Tigers confirmed the appointment with a statement revealed via their website and chief among those to speak on the appointment was Jepson.
He stated: “I am delighted to announce the appointment of Danny McGuire as Head Coach of Castleford Tigers. I am sure that Danny will be able to call on all his experience over many years in the game, for what will be his first Head Coach role.”
“I have been hugely impressed with Danny’s ambition, his determination, and his technical knowledge of the game and I look forward to working alongside him. I am also sure Danny will be able to help attract like-minded players to the Club as we continue to build for next season. Danny will be able to select and appoint an Assistant Coach.”
Danny McGuire added: “I am really excited and feel privileged to be given the opportunity to be Head Coach of Castleford Tigers. I am looking forward to a strong pre-season and getting the players ready to represent the Club and fans with pride.”
McGuire will have a strong platform to build on with the club having focused much of the 2024 season on getting players in under the table and earning them experience. They did so on a budget that was £700,000 below the cap, as revealed by Craig Lingard this week.
Now, with the former Leeds man at the helm, they’ll look to add further with Jepson specifically citing McGuire’s ability to “help attract like-minded players”. Of course, all of that recruitment will be done as a Grade A club with Castleford Tigers sneaking about the 15-point barrier in Wednesday’s announcement,
The off-field work and ability for the club to raise their attendance above the 7,500 average has seen them earn Grade A status in a week that has also seen them bought out and land a new head coach.