“Common denominators” letting Castleford Tigers down as boss explains latest collapse

Ryan Carr admits to a feeling of “de ja vu” after his Castleford Tigers side were again thumped, despite starting the game incredibly well.

Just like last week, where Castleford really took the game to Wakefield before falling off a huge cliff, they scored two early tries against Warrington Wolves on Saturday afternoon, before conceding eight tries in total.

Daejarn Asi, Tylor Sharpe and Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e all crossed to give Castleford an 18-6 lead after 23 minutes, but from then on it would be all Wire, with Carr blaming “individuals” for letting the side down.

“[It was the] same as last week,” Carr said in his post-match comments. “[We] started really well, the game was going as we wanted it to because we were going after the game, and then momentum struck, and the ability to stand up to it and stop it just wasn’t there.”

“…There’s some common denominators [from last week to this week]. Those who know rugby league can pick them.

“That start to the game, maybe even 30 (minutes) again, was exactly how we wanted to play and we were doing a really good job. Then some common denominators struck again, unfortunately.”

Carr will always avoid sugarcoating his thoughts and feelings, and has had enough with certain players not pulling their weight when the going gets tough.

He said: “It’s more of an individual thing than a team thing because the team thing was when we look really good, but some individuals need to…., yeah.”

Asked if he saw the collapse coming, he replied: “It’s like two different versions of people, so I don’t see that coming… There’s a definite individual thing for certain people out there today that caused things and that affects the team, and ultimately, that’s hard to come back from.”

Castleford Tigers boss calls out individuals after latest collapse

Despite his side producing efforts like that regularly, and having nothing to play for, Carr is not one that wants the season to end, with the belief being that he can still get a tune out of what is truly a mind-boggling side.

“It’s my job to get the best out of the team right now and win as many games as we can,” he stressed. “That’s what we’re paid to do, so I’m not looking ahead.

“Right now, I’m looking at tonight. [We’ll] review it, keep people accountable to it, but again there’s some common denominators amongst that.

“But I’ll keep fighting because our fans deserve it. They deserve a team who throws everything at every game, no matter what the scenario or the situation.”