HUDDERSFIELD GIANTS were “beaten to the punch in nearly every aspect” by Castleford Tigers, according to boss Luke Robinson.
The Giants failed to arrest their poor run after falling to a ninth straight league defeat as Castleford ran out as convincing 30-12 winners at the John Smith’s Stadium.
The bookmakers had struggled to pick a clear favourite before this battle of two of the bottom three, but the Tigers romped to a victory that may hurt more than any other inflicted upon Huddersfield so far this year.
“That is one of our most disappointing performances of the year, to be honest,” reflected Robinson.
“Not to take anything away from Castleford, but I don’t think they were overly that good. But they were just better than us.
“They beat us to the punch in nearly every aspect. We started to come alive when the game was gone.
“We started drowning them defensively and we started running with more vigour in attack.
“That’s really disappointing from my perspective because it means when the pressure and the heat is on, we wilt, whereas the best teams and the best players thrive under pressure and when there’s more at stake, they come into their own.”
Castleford picked up only their second victory in the process, building on the positive signs seen during the last-gasp derby defeat to rivals Wakefield Trinity last time out and whom they face again at Magic Weekend.
“I’ve just said to the players, ‘that’s the reward for your effort, commitment and everything you’ve been doing for the past few weeks,'” said McGuire.
“I felt like we needed to keep believing. I don’t think we got what we probably deserved at Wakefield but it definitely gave us some momentum and confidence.
“The challenge now is to do it again. Wakefield are playing well and Magic Weekend is a big occasion, so we’ll prepare well and be ready and we’re looking forward to that game already.”
