CALLUM WALKER reviews Castleford Tigers’ 2025 season.

The hope

Craig Lingard had done a decent job with very few resources in 2024, so when he was sacked and his assistant, Danny McGuire, was promoted to the helm, eyebrows were raised around the Rugby League fraternity. 

But McGuire was fresh, young and vibrant and had spent over two decades harnessing a winning culture at Leeds Rhinos as a player. After that he had worked as Willie Peters’ assistant at Hull KR. 

And although no one outside of Castleford gave them much of a chance, who doesn’t love an underdog story?

The reality

That underdog, however, had as much bite as a toothless chihuahua as the Tigers won just six games all season, sacked their coach Danny McGuire in July, replacing him with director of rugby Chris Chester, who couldn’t stop them from finishing second bottom in the Super League table.

Alex Mellor replaced Sam Wood as captain midway through the season as the Tigers managed to make it to shirt number 45, which was given to Huddersfield Giants loanee Elliot Wallis.

It was originally intended to be a year of building under McGuire with the investment of Martin Jepson beginning to take shape. But the failure to make clear progress on that journey led to disillusionment amongst even the hardiest of Castleford supporters.

A Challenge Cup exit at the hands of Bradford Bulls in February in trench-like conditions set the tone for an abysmal year. And when the sun started shining, the Tigers appeared caught in the glare. 

Four-match and five-match losing runs condemned Castleford to 11th position, only being saved from collecting the wooden spoon by the financial basket case of Salford Red Devils.

Best players

Alex Mellor ran his blood to water for Castleford in 2025, scooping up the Player of the Year and the Players’ Player of the Year awards. The second-rower, who also operated in the centres at times during the year, missed just two games for the Tigers and his efforts on the field didn’t go unnoticed in the stands.

Samoan international Daejarn Asi, who was signed from the NRL’s Parramatta Eels, joined the club at the start of the season and played in every game, scoring six tries and three goals.

Jeremiah Simbiken also deserves an honourable mention. Despite being banned four times and charged six, he offered some rare good moments in defence, whilst Catalans-bound Josh Simm crossed the line eight times in a decent flurry towards the back end of the season.

In quotes

“For the fans that travelled and the Cas fans watching on TV, on behalf of the squad we apologise. We take responsibility. We have already started working on what we need to do. It’s an honour to wear the shirt and play for Cas and we know we didn’t do ourselves justice yesterday. I promise we are working hard to bounce back and bring that pride back to the shirt and the club you all love.” Sam Wood’s apology and promise to bounce back following a dismal 18-16 Challenge Cup defeat to Bradford Bulls, although it seemingly fell on deaf ears.

“It has been a challenging season, but in particular, the result and performance in last week’s game against Huddersfield (a 30-12 home loss in early July) were hugely disappointing for me and everybody involved with the club,” owner Martin Jepson’s comment after deciding to sack Danny McGuire.

“There will be tough conversations with players that are still contracted as well because we’ve had five years of mediocrity. We’ve been shopping at Netto in the past, now we’re shopping at Sainsbury’s.” Interim head coach and director of rugby Chris Chester didn’t mince his words about recent Castleford players following a 64-6 home thrashing by Leeds Rhinos. It preceded a massive clear-out of players from the newly named OneBore Stadium.

In numbers

36 penalty points Liam Horne accrued after being found guilty by an RFL Tribunal of Grade E unnecessary contact with a player who is injured or may be injured against Wigan Warriors in late June. Horne was banned for six games.

28 games Daejarn Asi played in his first season with Castleford, meaning he didn’t miss a match.

18 percent was Danny McGuire’s win rate as Tigers boss, with the former Leeds stalwart enjoying just four wins from 17.

Highlight

There can only really be one highlight during a dismal year for the Tigers – and that was the unlikely 26-22 win over Wakefield Trinity in Round 25.

Going into that fixture, Castleford had lost five on the trot, but they fully deserved the victory against their bitter rivals. 

It made it even sweeter for Tigers fans that Wakefield were chasing the play-offs and had their former coach Daryl Powell at the helm – something which the vociferous Jungle crowd made known.

Lowlight

There were some dreadful performances to choose from, but an 18-16 loss to Championship side Bradford Bulls at Odsal in the Challenge Cup third round in early February was just about as low as it got for the Tigers. 

It was obvious from that moment on that they would struggle throughout 2025 with former captain Sam Wood apologising to fans after the game via an open letter.

Other notable losses include a 64-6 home thrashing by Leeds Rhinos, a 62-6 demolishing by Wigan Warriors and a 26-22 defeat to bottom side Salford Red Devils.