Castleford are now looking for their third coach of the season after Andy Last was sacked following a 28-0 defeat to Huddersfield that left the Tigers bottom of the Super League table.
Last replaced Lee Radford in March but has struggled desperately for any kind of result, winning just four games and the club now staring down the barrel at the prospect of relegation.
That fear means the hierarchy at The Jungle must get this next appointment right, with a toxic atmosphere beginning to develop at the club as the fans start to turn on the board after a woeful season.
As Castleford prepare for a week’s break from Super League for the Challenge Cup Final, they have time now to get an appointment in place before their next league fixture against relegation rivals and neighbours Wakefield Trinity.
So with that in mind, here are five contenders we feel could be lined up for the head coach’s role with the 2017 League Leaders’ Shield winners – a list that includes some familiar faces.
Daryl Powell
The first and most obvious contender is Daryl Powell. After nine years at The Jungle, Powell departed Cas at the end of 2021 to take over at Warrington – a club where he struggled to recreate the success he had on West Yorkshire. Sacked by the Wolves last week, Powell is currently available, and calls started straight away among the Tigers faithful to ‘bring him home’. During his time in charge at Cas, Powell make ‘The Fords’ a consistent playoff team, with 2017 seeing them reach the Super League Grand Final after dominating the league season, finishing 10 points clear at the top.
John Kear
The experienced John Kear is a Castleford lad and this could be the perfect opportunity to make himself a hero in his hometown. The 68-year-old is out of work after leaving Widnes Vikings earlier this season and this job could present Kear the chance to showcase his superb ‘underdog’ coaching ability again. Having led Sheffield Eagles and Hull FC to unlikely Challenge Cup triumphs in 1998 and 2005 respectively, Kear has a wealth of experience having coached eight different clubs. Those clubs include Wakefield, with Kear at the helm when they beat Castleford to secure Super League survival in 2006 – could he do the same but in reverse this time around?
Danny Ward
A former Castleford player, Danny Ward was linked with the head coach’s role at The Jungle when Lee Radford was sacked at the start of the season. The 43-year-old has been out of work in rugby league circles since leaving London Broncos in 2021, having done an excellent job there in leading the club to Super League and making them competitive. Ward has spent time this year coaching in Rugby Union with Rosslyn Park, but a chance to return to coaching in Super League at a club he knows could be the ideal role for a man who clearly has the ability to get the best out of a playing squad – as proved during his time with the Broncos.
James Ford
Now Director of Rugby at Castleford’s local rivals Featherstone, James Ford was interviewed for the head coach role at the Tigers earlier in the season. Ford has plenty of coaching experience, though not in Super League, having only been a number two at Wakefield earlier this season under Mike Applegarth before joining Featherstone. Prior to that Ford was head coach at York Knights for seven seasons where he brought the club up to the second tier and stabilised them – increasing his own coaching stock in the process. Ford has been linked with Super League coaching jobs in the past but has never landed a top job in the top tier – could this be his chance?
Justin Morgan
The former Hull KR boss was linked with the Castleford job in March and reportedly informed the club of his interest, before they opted for Andy Last. The 47-year is currently the assistant coach at the high-flying New Zealand Warriors, so it remains to be seen whether he will put himself forward for the Tigers job again given the success and history he could be part of this season at the Warriors. But head coaching jobs don’t come around too often in rugby league and with Morgan reportedly keen to be a number one again, this could present him with the perfect chance to come back over to England and showcase the superb ability he has – ability that saw him make and stabilise Hull KR as a Super League club between 2005 and 2011.
Other contenders
Current assistant coach at Castleford, Craig Lingard, is splitting his time with being head coach at Batley. With the Bulldogs going for promotion again this season it seems likely he will see out the campaign there, though rule nothing out at this stage! Other names that will likely be thrown forward are Andrew Henderson, Brian McDermott, Ryan Carr, Denis Betts, Simon Grix, Danny McGuire and Adrian Vowles – all of whom were contenders with the bookmakers when the role became available at Castleford earlier in the season.
