CONGRATULATIONS to Craig Lingard on his promotion to coach at Castleford.
He’s done a terrific job at Batley, who have been punching well above their weight, and even with the assistance of Danny McGuire, who I much admire and was disappointed to see Hull KR let go of, Linners is going to have to call on all that experience to lift Castleford out of the doldrums.
He’s seen the club from the inside, having been in the unusual position of working for two at the same time (assistant at the Tigers by day, chief of the Bulldogs by night and on a Sunday), and still fancied taking on the challenge.
I got to know him when I was working on the commercial side of things at Keighley and he was coach there, and it’s probably fair to say we both found it an experience.
Linners is a very personable bloke, he knows what he wants and the way he likes to play, and he has that knack of getting the most out of people.
That’s the good news for Castleford fans, but in my view, the bad is that with the raw materials he has to work with, he’s going to have to do that and more.
Castleford have had one brush with the bottom of the table, saved only by the even worse showing of their neighbours Wakefield, and despite a number of new signings, I suspect there could be another coming up.
And while we won’t be seeing relegation in its usual form next year, it will be very interesting to see how many points they have when the initial club gradings are finally revealed by the RFL and IMG.
Broncos in three-way struggle
AT THIS stage, I foresee a three-way battle between Salford (whose anticipated struggles are mentioned here), Castleford and London Broncos to avoid finishing bottom of Super League in 2024.
Mike Eccles has done a magnificent job to get the Broncos promoted, a play-off process they had to do a hard way, by playing away in each tie culminating in a fine last-four victory at hot favourites Featherstone and that really impressive comeback triumph over Toulouse in the final in France.
Now he is aiming to assemble a squad capable of competing in the top-flight, and at this stage, that’s a mighty big ask, especially without his right-hand man Rhys Lovegrove, who has become the coach of Hull KR’s Academy.
The Broncos have got some good players, some of them homegrown and some, such as the highly-effective Corey Norman and Dean Whare, bought in, but they need to add to them.
