Castleford Tigers incoming boss’ in-tray ahead of 2025

Castleford Tigers have confirmed the departure of head coach Craig Lingard after just a year in the role, and are now looking for a replacement.

It appears that the man in line to fill the role could be Danny McGuire, who is currently the assistant coach at the club, a role he took on at the end of the 2023 season after leaving Hull KR.

The Super League legend, whose all-time try-scoring record was unchallenged for over a decade won everything there is to win as a player, and was a successful interim coach for Hull KR, showing he may have the qualities needed to be a permanent Super League head coach.

Whether or not the man to replace Lingard is McGuire, however, there’s plenty to be done ahead of the 2025 season – and, indeed, during it.

The new Castleford Tigers boss’ in-tray ahead of 2025

Keep the faith in youngsters

Although the club are probably actually in a pretty good financial situation now, there’s plenty of work to be done on Wheldon Road over the next few years, and the club didn’t spend big ahead of 2024.

This gave some new names a chance to show what they could do, and a number took it: Jenson Windley, Cain Robb and Fletcher Rooney were among the names that had a breakout season this year and came through the club’s system.

The club’s excellent academy pathway should continue to be utilised where possible – and it would be fantastic to see some of the names previously mentioned kick on and improve even further in 2025.

Keep the Castleford Tigers fans on side

A particular change that Lingard brought to the club was a real connection with the fanbase.

After every game, you would see the former Batley Bulldogs boss in and amongst the crowd, taking selfies and chatting with fans.

That isn’t something the club has seen for a while, but it’s a huge factor in making sure there’s a good feel around the club – something that has been brought by Martin Jepson’s involvement in the club, but also something that can go away as quickly as it arrived, such is the nature of the sport.

Cement a spine

Who made up the spine for Cas this year?

Tex Hoy made the number one shirt his own after joining, but Jacob Miller and Rowan Milnes seemed to be the designated halves pairing due to a lack of other options, rather than because they worked really well.

Lingard gave Jenson Windley a go in both the six and seven positions towards the end of the campaign, and this could certainly help the young player in the future, but if Daejarn Asi comes in as is widely expected, it’s likely that it will be him and Milnes as the pairing.

The hooker role was taken up by the excellent Liam Horne on a number of occasions, but Cain Robb and Paul McShane also fitted in at times.

Next year, it may well be reported signing Judah Rimbu as the nine, with Horne elsewhere in the pack. If that is the case then Rimbu should be the starter more often than not, with Cain Robb taking a Jez Litten-style role of coming on as a disruptor to the defensive line towards the end of games.

Whoever those starting spine players end up being, however, it’s vital that they get a proper crack at working together. Last year was an experimentation year, now 2025 needs to bring some stability.