DANNY WARD has revealed why he rejected Castleford Tigers’ job offer of the head coach, before agreeing to take the assistant coaching role at Hull KR.
Ward took over the reins at The Jungle for the last six games of the 2023 Super League season, winning two fixtures and helping the Tigers remain in the top flight.
Most people thought that the ex-London Broncos boss would get the job full-time, but that never materialised with Craig Lingard instead appointed and Danny McGuire taking over the number two role at Castleford.
That, ironically, paved the way for Ward to become Willie Peters’ right-hand man at Hull KR, with Ward explaining how the move came about and why he turned down the Castleford offer: “It wasn’t that I turned down Castleford for this role, this role came afterwards,” Ward told BBC Humberside.
“My decision to turn down Castleford was just based on things there both personally and the situation at Castleford, it had nothing to do with Hull KR.”
So why did Ward take up the role at Rovers?
“This opportunity came further down the track and it was good when Willie spoke to me out of the blue.
“We met up, had a coffee, discussed all things rugby including where he sees the club going as well as last year.
“It excited me straight away and it was quite an easy decision to get on board and be a part of something.
“I didn’t really get anywhere with offers from other people, as soon as Hull KR were on the table and I’d spoke to Willie and others at the club, I was kind of sold on making the decision.
“The decision was about moving from the south up to Hull and that was a tough decision to make for family reasons and personal reasons but once Hull KR came in, it was very hard to turn down and I’m now excited about being a part of it.”
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