Castleford Tigers captain issues public apology after shock Challenge Cup exit

Castleford Tigers captain Sam Wood has offered a public apology to the club’s supporters following their shock exit from the Challenge Cup, detailing he and the rest of the Fords’ playing squad are ‘hurting’ from the result.

Danny McGuire’s side were dumped out of the cup by Championship side Bradford Bulls yesterday, after Tex Hoy missed an 80th minute conversion to send the game into Golden Point.

Castleford found themselves 17-0 down at the interval, thanks to tries from Bradford’s James Donaldson, Joe Keyes and Tom Holmes, but rallied in the second-half to score 16 points of their own though, including a try from Hoy in the final play of the game before his missed conversion.

As a result, Castleford are now the only Super League side not in the Challenge Cup.

Sam Wood opens up on emotions following Bradford Bulls defeat

In a statement issued on the club’s website, the England international spoke candidly about the playing squad’s emotions following the surprise defeat.

“The whole playing group is as disappointed as the fans were by yesterday’s performance and result,” he said. “Believe me, no one is hurting as much as us players. We know that performance isn’t how we want to be seen.”

“I see the hard work we are putting in every day in training, the preparation and the commitment this bunch of boys have to what we want to achieve this season. We are way better than yesterday and that’s what is so disappointing.”

The centre, who was named club captain ahead of the new season after just a year at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle, also offered an apology to the supporters following the defeat, and said the players are already working on what they need to fix ahead of their Super League season.

“For the fans that travelled and the Cas fans watching on TV, on behalf of the squad we apologise. We take responsibility. We have already started working on what we need to do.”

“It’s an honour to wear the shirt and play for Cas and we know we didn’t do ourselves justice yesterday. I promise we are working hard to bounce back and bring that pride back to the shirt and the club you all love.”

The Tigers begin their regular season campaign with a tough visit to Hull KR on Friday night, before facing St Helens at home in round two.

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