AFTER three wins in a row, Castleford Tigers have now lost their last two fixtures in Super League.
A defeat away to Salford Red Devils was compounded by a dismal loss to Hull KR which, after such promise following wins over St Helens, London Broncos and Catalans Dragons, has left many Castleford fans scratching their heads.
For Tigers head coach Craig Lingard, however, the reason is simple.
“I just think we are where we are as a squad. We’ve not got experienced players and a part of being consistent is having that experience,” Lingard told League Express.
“I’m not being disrespectful to our players, but we aren’t of that level of quality of the squads of Wigan, Saints or Warrington. We are still learning to be consistent.
“You have that with young players coming into that first-team environment. They might have two or three games where they play really well and then they will dip. You have to pull them back.
“Unfortunately we can’t pull back 17 players and then drip feed them back in. It’s a learning curve on how to be consistent, not necessarily winning games week in, week out but being competitive week in, week out.
“We did that for five games and the last couple of games we have dipped a little bit.”
It’s Lingard’s first year in charge of a Super League side, so how does he think it has gone?
“I’ve loved it, there are different pressures and expectations to League One and Championship.
“It’s a bigger level than what I’ve coached at in terms of scrutiny with the eyes on you with every game televised and the amount of spectators.
“The job is the same, you are there to get the best out of players as best as you can. It’s been interesting and it’s something I’ve definitely enjoyed.
“I hope the experience can help me and the team next year.”
So would Lingard have done anything differently?
“I don’t think I’d have done anything differently. We normally sit down and review at the end of the season.
“There are certain things that maybe I would look back on with different team selections but that’s done in hindsight as you prepare the team with the information you have got at the time.
“We all sit down and discuss the options available to us. We always make the best decisions based on what’s right at the time.”
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