Former Batley Bulldogs and Keighley Cougars head coach Craig Lingard will succeed Danny Ward as Castleford Tigers’ head coach after signing a two-year deal; Danny McGuire joins Lingard on the Mend-A-Hose Jungle as assistant coach having not too long ago left Hull Kingston Rovers
Last Updated: 17/10/23 6:00pm
Craig Lingard is taking on as Castleford’s new head coach
Craig Lingard will take over as Castleford Tigers’ head coach for the 2024 Betfred Super League season, with Danny McGuire as his assistant.
Lingard initially joined the Tigers as assistant to Andy Last, combining that function with his place as head coach of Betfred Championship aspect Batley Bulldogs, and continued as a part of the Tigers’ teaching workers when Danny Ward changed Last in August.
The 45-year-old had been because of transfer right into a full-time assistant function with Castleford from subsequent season onwards however has now agreed a two-year contract to turn out to be head coach after Ward declined the chance to increase his keep on the Mend-A-Hose Jungle past the 2023 season regardless of steering them away from relegation.
“I am massively honoured,” Lingard mentioned. “Something I’ve always aspired to be is a head coach in Super League and I’ve got that opportunity now.
“It has come slightly bit earlier than I used to be anticipating but it surely’s one thing I’m going to seize with each arms and hopefully be successful.
“I’m coming in with my eyes fully wide open, it’s not a new venue for me and I’ve got a good idea about the workings of the club and with a lot of change in personnel with people leaving and people coming in the bulk of the squad that are staying I’ve got experience of working with those guys.
Something I’ve always aspired to be is a head coach in Super League and I’ve got that opportunity now. It has come a little bit sooner than I was expecting but it’s something I’m going to grab with both hands.
New Castleford head coach Craig Lingard
“I can work a bit extra carefully with them subsequent yr and put my stamp on how I need us to play and the values we wish to convey again to Castleford Tigers to make us extra profitable than we’ve got been this season.”
Lingard moved into coaching following a 10-year playing career with Batley, stepping up to his first head coaching job in the professional ranks with Keighley Cougars where he was in charge from 2017 to 2019.
He returned to the Fox’s Biscuits Stadium in 2020 and guided Batley to the 2022 Championship Grand Final, where they were beaten by Leigh Centurions, and a narrow defeat to Halifax Panthers in this year’s 1895 Cup final at Wembley.
Danny McGuire will be Craig Lingard’s assistant at Castleford
Leeds Rhinos great McGuire, meanwhile, joins Lingard after leaving fellow Super League side Hull Kingston Rovers at the end of the 2023 season where he had been serving as assistant to Willie Peters.
“I’m actually excited in regards to the problem after a good bit of hypothesis, however for me it is about trying ahead to working with a very proficient bunch of gamers and a membership with historical past and all the things that surrounds Castleford Tigers,” McGuire said.
“I’m nonetheless pretty early on into my teaching journey with hundreds to be taught and expertise so I’m excited to be working alongside any individual who’s achieved a lot within the recreation so I’ll be choosing his brains hopefully we will gel rather well and work properly as a mixture.”
Watch each match of the 2024 Betfred Super League season, together with Magic Weekend, the play-offs, and males’s, ladies’s and wheelchair Grand Finals, dwell on Sky Sports. Also stream on NOW.
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