Castleford Tigers responded in a big way after their loss to Salford Red Devils by defeating Warrington Wolves at the Jungle and one of the standouts of that win has had his say, confirming the player’s feel accountable for the sacking of Danny McGuire.
McGuire was axed ahead of the Salford game after leading his side to defeat against Huddersfield Giants. Many fans and neutrals were caught off guard by the sacking and eyebrows were raised even higher when Castleford lost to Salford last weekend for what was only the Red Devils’ second win of the year.
A massive response was needed and that’s what interim head coach Chris Chester got as Castleford won 20-14 against Warrington Wolves, and Tigers’ standout Daejarn Asi spoke about the win post-match on Sky Sports.
“We knew it was going to be a tough one coming into it,” the try-scorer confirmed, adding: “Warrington have had a pretty good season so far so we just knew it was going to be a dogfight, and a dogfight it was.”
“Full credit to our boys. We stuck to the game plan all game for the full 80 and it’s a long time between wins, but a good one to win at home.”
Castleford Tigers players taking ‘good hard look’ after poor season
With just eight games remaining and no hope of making the play-offs and the likelihood being that Castleford will finish in tenth, the players must now play for pride and future contracts.
Asi is keen for his side to kick on again, noting: “We haven’t put two good performances back to back this season.”
Asked about how the Tigers can do that, he explained: “It’s just within ourselves. We’ve had to have a real good hard look at ourselves this season, but I’m just enjoying the moment. I’m glad we got the two points today.”
Signed from the NRL ahead of the season, Asi has kicked into gear in recent weeks, scoring five tries and registering five assists in the last six games and he spoke on his Man of the Match performance.
The ex-Parramatta player said: “I’m happy with the way I played today. I still had a few errors and a few fix-ups that I need to get through, but all season the coaching staff have just been helping me. They’re just helping me to back myself, running the ball, kicking the ball well. That was a big part of our win today.”
It was a performance from Asi and others that looked like one of accountability in response to last week’s loss against Salford, and Sky Sports’ Dave Woods asked if it was a step up in response to the sacking of Danny McGuire.
“Well, obviously the way Danny’s left is off the back of our performances,” conceded Asi, adding: “We weren’t performing well at the start of the season and Magsy bore the brunt of it, which is unfortunate.
“We’ve just got to take a good hard look at ourselves, like I said, and perform well for the back end of the season going into next season.”
The Tigers have a week off now but take on St Helens away on August 1st when they return to Super League action.
Castleford Tigers return to winning ways 🐯 pic.twitter.com/aj7aBUEwva
— Sky Sports Rugby League (@SkySportsRL) July 20, 2025
