Danny McGuire calls for patience as Castleford Tigers’ pride praised but “poor calls” questioned

Castleford Tigers head coach Danny McGuire has bemoaned “poor calls” amid praise for his side’s effort in defeat to Warrington Wolves.

Ahead of their trip to Wembley, Warrington got back to winning ways as they came through 34-24 against a determined but sloppy Castleford Tigers.

Trailing 22-6 at half-time, the Tigers threatened a comeback and even scored a consolation in the final minute to make the score look more respectable but Castleford were never really at the races.

“I thought we got some really poor calls, to be honest with you,” McGuire explained to Sky Sports post-match.

“I don’t want to whinge, but there were a few decisions that didn’t go our way but the lads are just scrapping away.

“We’ve had some setbacks, Joe Westerman pulled out this morning. We lost our captain 15, 20 minutes in. We’ve got some players that haven’t played a lot of game time but they’re still scrapping away and fighting for each other and committing.”

Castleford Tigers will “start climbing” as McGuire praises “pride”

That fight was definitely evident in the second half with Castleford much-improved but it counted for little, though McGuire took solace in it and believes his side will get there.

He explained: “Some of it’s not pretty. Some of the stuff we’re doing at times is not pretty, but whenever you’ve got that effort and that commitment and, I suppose, the pride, we’ll get there, we’ll get there, we’ll keep working hard.

“All the technical things and tactical things will come and we’ll start climbing. It’s just going to take a little bit of time, but really, really proud of the effort.

“I’m obviously, disappointed with a loss. This game’s always about winning or losing, but the guys have definitely left everything out there. That’s all you can ask.”

McGuire was also asked about his first season as a head coach and how things are going in general at Wheldon Road and that saw him call for patience, explaining that the club have ‘processes’ in place to try and change things.

He explained: “I’m enjoying it. I’m loving it. It’s a really good challenge. It’s a tough challenge. I think everybody wants to win. Everybody wants things today and they’re probably not even prepared to wait until tomorrow. I understand that.

“These are processes that we’re going through. We’re trying to change things. We’re trying to create an environment where people want to come to and want to improve and want to get better.

“I’m happy with how things are going. We’d like to be winning, but we are competing. Warrington are probably going to be a top-four team or top six team. We’ve not got the results tonight, but we’ve done some really promising things.”

FULL TIME 👊

We score on the hooter but still fall short this evening. pic.twitter.com/7QMzcaXXGY

— Castleford Tigers (@CTRLFC) May 30, 2025