CASTLEFORD TIGERS went down 48-0 to Hull KR at The Jungle tonight.
The Tigers trailed 20-0 at half-time before being subject to a Rovers onslaught in the second 40 minutes, conceding nine tries in all.
And it’s fair to say that Castleford head coach Danny McGuire was disappointed with his side’s loss, saying after the game: “I thought Hull KR were very good and very disciplined. They executed really well, defended tough and worked hard.
“I thought we weren’t at it from the start. We had talked about starting really well with intensity but it didn’t happen.
“Our journey does have bumps in the road and those are the ones you learn from and get better from.
“We did some things that we are disappointed with and need to go back and fix but ultimately we got well beaten by a good team.
“My expectations were we would compete tonight – whether that was a win or not it didn’t matter – I thought we would be in a position to challenge and I don’t think we were.
“We haven’t backed up a performance yet this year which is hindering us.”
Though the Tigers fans were frustrated by a number of refereeing decisions, McGuire doesn’t believe there was any bearing on the result.
“When you’re a team dominating the game physically – which Hull KR did for large parts – that plays a large part in referee’s decisions.
“When the referee sees KR on the front foot, he will see more scope for giving six against us but overall the influence of the referee didn’t have a part to play in the result.”
McGuire also explains why he took Rowan Milnes off the field late on.
“We were trying to change things up. Defensively down the edge, they were struggling.
“It was a hard night for halfbacks, they didn’t have good ball in good areas and we were trying to see Chris Atkin in the halves.”
The Castleford boss revealed that Fletcher Rooney and Jeremiah Simbiken could return against Wigan Warriors next weekend.