Castleford coach accuses players of ‘lack of respect’ and reveals half-time rant
Danny McGuire has addressed the ongoing uncertainty ahead of Friday's game versus Salford.
Castleford Tigers coach Danny McGuire accused his players of showing Bradford a ‘lack of respect’ after their shock Challenge Cup defeat to the Bulls.
The Tigers were beaten 18-16 in McGuire’s first competitive game as coach – and in the process, they were the only one of the 12 Super League sides to fail to win in Round Three of this year’s competition.
Trailing 17-0 at half-time after a horrendous opening 40 minutes, the Tigers did show some fight to reduce the deficit to just five points in the latter stages. Tex Hoy’s late try then threatened to push the game to extra-time after Jordan Lilley’s drop goal made it 18-12: but Hoy missed the crucial conversion.
McGuire did not hold back after the game – paying credit to the opposition but insisting his side did not show them any respect during a lacklustre opening half.
“There’s lots of different emotions but frustration is the main one,” McGuire insisted.
“We probably showed a lack of respect in that first half with everything we did. Not what we practised, not what we spoke about, not how we prepared. I’m really disappointed with what we did for most of the first half.
“Bradford were good. I’ve got to give them credit. They’ve got some experienced players that handled the situation better than some of our players. They were strong in the first half.
“We did some good things in the second half. I don’t know if it was my effing and jeffing but it shouldn’t need that. You shouldn’t need a coach to go in and scream at his players about what they need to do.”
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