LUKE ROBINSON apologised to Castleford Tigers fans, whom he felt were done a “disservice” in a disappointing 48-16 defeat that saw them leapfrogged by opponents Huddersfield Giants.
Castleford had started brightly, but despite playing over half of the match with a numerical advantage after Fenton Rogers’ first-half red card, offered little both in attack and defence as the Giants ran riot to end their chapter at the Accu Stadium on a high.
“I felt really sorry for the Castleford fans,” admitted Robinson, whose side failed to repay a vocal travelling support.
“They came out and in that first 20 minutes they were singing and shouting, they were brilliant.
“There weren’t that many of them in number, but you could hear them all throughout that 20 minutes, they were great.
“The season that they’ve had, obviously I’ve not been part of it and I’m new to this, but looking from outside, the fact that they still turned up and were singing and cheering, was commendable.
“I’ve spoken to the lads, and I think that they did them a disservice. Those fans that were singing and cheering, and applauding the players, we did them a disservice because it just wasn’t good enough.”
He added: “There’s a lot that needs changing. The club are quite aware, I’ve come in with a fresh pair of eyes and I think everybody knows what’s going on at the club, but things need to change in pretty much nearly every department.
“We’ve got a really strong fanbase, and the club and the town is a mad rugby town and they deserve a really good rugby side.
“I spoke to the players and said that they need to strap themselves in, because the vision that the club have got is that this season isn’t good enough.
“The lads that are staying here next year, that’s not going to be acceptable.”
Castleford were a long way from the sides that had beaten both Wigan Warriors and Leeds Rhinos earlier in the campaign.
And such was the toothless manner of their performance, it seemed that they were the side that were playing with twelve men rather than Huddersfield.
“I don’t think that they’ve all given up,” stressed Robinson when asked if his side had simply thrown in the towel in a campaign that has seen a host of problems both on and off the pitch.
“But do I think some of them have? Yes.
“That’s me being honest, and I’ve had conversations with the playing group and within the club.
“You can always take losing, winners don’t like losing, but there’s a manner in which you go about it.
“The fans know that because it’s a rugby town and they’re rugby mad, they know and they can see it when individuals are fighting tooth and nail for themselves, their mates and the badge, and that’s not happened.”