DANNY McGUIRE was hugely disappointed with another loss as Castleford Tigers went down 24-14 to Hull FC.
The damage was done shortly after half-time, with Lewis Martin’s effort handing the Black and Whites a 24-6 lead before the Tigers rallied late.
Castleford boss Danny McGuire was disappointed with yet another loss: “I thought it wasn’t a great game. I thought we were poor for the majority of the game and we found some energy at the back end which is disappointing. We wanted that energy from minute one.
“I think it’s a cop out when you find that energy at 75 minutes so I’m disappointed with that. It sends out a poor message that they were comfortable and we had to find energy from somewhere.
“We are not prepared to do the tough stuff at the minute. We talked about Herman Ese’ese. He is a big man but I’ve played against some big men and they don’t score tries that easily.
“It looked like under-10s, it is crazy. It was the same last week and then Hull scored a try down the short side where we were short.
“Then Aidan Sezer runs past four players who are just watching him go past. It’s nowhere near good enough and we have got some things to fix up.
“We’ve got some learning and educating to do. We’ve got to have some harsh words and I’m delivering harsh words but we don’t seem to be learning.
“The players are making the same mistakes week after week. We’re letting each other down with decisions and discipline.
“They need to learn soon otherwise it’s going to be a long year. We went four sets each at the start of the game and I just feel like we’re ready to crack.
“We are not mentally tough enough, I’m almost waiting for it. We are lacking that toughness.”
McGuire gave his verdict on Innes Senior’s yellow card following a heavy tackle on Hull’s Cade Cust.
“I don’t feel like it was a sin bin, he’s made a good hard tackle. I feel like it was okay but I haven’t seen the replay back.
“I thought the ref was up and down tonight. There were some interesting decisions for both sides.”
The Castleford boss also gave an update on Joe Westerman, who limped off, and explained the decision to bring off Josh Hodson and Rowan Milnes throughout the game.
“Westy tweaked his knee. Rowan’s was a tactical withdrawal. I thought he was poor. He’s coming back from injury and I need to give him a bit of leeway there.
“Judah Rimbu was there on the bench and we wanted to try and change things up and have some tempo there.
“Rowan is a great player and person but I don’t think he was at it tonight. We’ve got to have accountability.
“To play for Castleford Tigers you are in a privileged position and I just don’t feel like our players are showing that enough.
“Josh Hodson hasn’t played a lot and I thought he was way off the pace early on and got exploited. It’s tough but I felt like we needed to shore that up.”
McGuire also explained why Liam Horne wasn’t chosen to play.
“I felt like there were a few players that deserved the chance. He’s probably not started the season as we would have liked – by his own admission.
“He has been erratic and loose at times. But the players that came in probably didn’t step in and prove it was the right one.”
There was also an incident in the first half when Castleford could have challenged a decision to penalise Dan Okoro for an incorrect play-the-ball.
Instead of challenging the decision, the Tigers let it go and Hull went up the other end and scored to make it 18-6.
“I think they wanted to challenge but it was Alex Mellor that said it and it had to come from the captain.
“They ran out of time, apparently.”
