Danny McGuire tears into Castleford Tigers players after heavy Huddersfield defeat

Castleford Tigers head coach Danny McGuire has tore into his side after their 30-12 defeat against Huddersfield Giants, accusing his players of ‘falling in love with yourselves’ after their narrow loss to Wigan Warriors.

Having beaten Hull FC a few weeks ago and only just losing to Wigan, it’s fair to say that Castleford were a team who looked like turning a corner and Danny McGuire agreed.

However, his side put in a woeful performance with very little to show bar a five-minute period at the end of the first half which saw them string two tries together.

Asked for his feelings post-match, McGuire confirmed he was ‘disappointed’ as he went on to critique his players for the home loss.

“I thought we were really flat, started slow, made some really poor decisions, I don’t think we wanted to put our body in front, or do anything that needed energy and effort,” he told Sky Sports.

“We just went through the motions and the better team won. Huddersfield were the better team and I thought it were one of the worst games I’ve ever seen in Super League, so not a great advertisement, but yeah, they deserved it.

“We were really, really, really poor.”

Castleford Tigers players accused of ‘putting cue in the rack’

Having scored those two tries late in the first-half, McGuire was asked if it had inspired hope his side could take the 12-12 half-time score and turn it into a win.

“I think that probably just papered over a few cracks,” he admitted.

“I don’t know why we could fall in love with ourselves after one half-decent performance against Wigan, but I feel like we potentially have.

“We have to look at some things and see where we’ve gone wrong. I’m disappointed, I’m frustrated, I don’t really know what to say, I didn’t see it coming, I didn’t expect it, I thought we would turn the corner, but again, it seems to be one step forward and 75 back at the minute.”

The loss leaves Castleford well out of the play-off race and now just two points ahead of their opponents Huddersfield. Asked how his side can approach the remainder of the season given that there is no on-field relegation to fear and no play-offs to make, McGuire called on his players to step up.

He said: “We should just turn up with the right attitude, I don’t think we did today, and I need to find out why, and I need to find out the individuals that didn’t turn up with the right attitude, why, and make it happen, or bring somebody else in that’s going to turn up with the right attitude.

“I think we need to represent this team and this club better than we did tonight, and so there’s frustration, there’s a bit of anger really, because we’ve not had the right to put the cue in the rack but some of the players did that.”

He also confirmed that no further signings would be arriving to replace those he was disappointed with but did offer praise for the bench.

“I don’t think so, not that I’m aware of,” he responded when asked about new signings, before adding: “I thought Joe (Stimson) was good, I thought our interchange was probably our best three players tonight, I thought Joe, Sam Hall and Griff lifted us when they came on. I thought they were probably our three best players.

“Sometimes you’re a bit flat, and we need to find out why and the reasons, and have a look at our preparation.”

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— Castleford Tigers (@CTRLFC) July 3, 2025