2024 Castleford Tigers season

Supplier: Oxen
Main sponsor: CBR Engineering

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After a poor 2023 season where they were drawn into a relegation scrap with Wakefield, Castleford's 11th-placed finish narrowly secured a position in the Super League for 2024.^[2] The head coach role had been left vacant after the expiry of Danny Ward's short-term deal.^[3] On 17 October 2023, it was announced that former assistant Craig Lingard had been appointed, becoming the club's fourth permanent head coach within 12 months. Danny McGuire additionally joined from Hull KR as the new assistant coach.^[4] Joe Westerman was named co-captain alongside Paul McShane.^[5]

In the offseason, the playing squad underwent a large turnover with a focus on reducing average age.^[6][7] Departures included mainstays Nathan Massey and Greg Eden along with senior players such as Gareth Widdop, Niall Evalds and Jordan Turner.^[6] Under the new IMG grading system, league status would no longer be solely dependent on table position, so the team operated with a reduced playing budget as the club prioritised off-field improvements.^[8][9] Accordingly, the Tigers were widely predicted to compete with newly promoted London for the 'wooden spoon'.^[10][11][12] On the eve of the season, their proposals for an upgrade of Wheldon Road were approved by the council.^[13]

Castleford began the season poorly, falling to defeats against highly-rated Wigan, Salford and Warrington in the opening rounds. After a heavy loss to Huddersfield in round 4, Lingard said the team's capitulation was unacceptable and moved poor performers to the reserves.^[14] The team showed improved resilience despite defeat in the following round at Catalans,^[15] and they saw off Championship side Batley to advance in the Challenge Cup. However, they were unable to break down Leeds in round 6, with first-half control not being converted into points by their blunt attack; this sixth consecutive league loss marked Castleford's worst start to a season since 2004.^[16]

The Tigers secured their first league win of the year against Salford in round 7, with Innes Senior notably scoring four tries. However, with injury problems mounting and fifteen players unavailable, Castleford crashed out of the cup with a 54-point loss to Wigan.^[17] In April, the club announced a host of midseason signings including Tex Hoy, Louis Senior and Corey Hall. Another league defeat to Wigan was followed by an impressive 40–0 win against London, and a late comeback against Leigh secured a thrilling draw in round 10. Castleford's hit-and-miss performances continued over the following weeks, when they were trounced by St Helens, won against table rivals Hull (with Hoy scoring the club's try of the season),^[18] and were comfortably beaten by Leeds.

June saw an upturn in the team's performances, with battling displays in consecutive games against the eventual top two, Wigan and Hull KR - only beaten by one penalty goal and one drop goal respectively. Centre Sam Wood's impressive form earned him an England call up, but he suffered an injury on international duty that ruled him out for the season.^[19] In round 16, Castleford edged a low-scoring affair to earn an away win against St Helens for only the second time in 34 years.^[20] They then duly beat bottom side London, before the standout performance of the year against Catalans secured a third straight victory with two tries from Liam Horne.^[21][22] Lingard said the team was "unrecognisable" from the start of the year, having surpassed their 2023 points tally by July.^[23] Their streak was brought to an end by two hard-fought defeats at the hands of play-off hopefuls Salford and Leigh.

In round 21, Castleford sustained their heaviest defeat in three months in their visit to table-topping Hull KR.^[24] They went into their Magic Weekend fixture against Huddersfield just a point adrift of their 9th-placed opponents, however a meagre loss diminished hopes of moving up the table.^[25] Lingard began to rotate the team in the remaining rounds, experimenting with different combinations and giving minutes to academy players like Jenson Windley, Fletcher Rooney and Akim Matvejev.^[26][27] A flat defeat to Warrington was followed by a high-scoring win against Hull, where Rowan Milnes notched 19 points.^[28] Castleford fell to substantial losses against Leigh, St Helens, and Huddersfield in the final three rounds of the season, dampening the improved mood around the club,^[21] although their 10th-placed finish represented a marginal improvement on the previous campaign.^[29] Alex Mellor was named Tigers Player of the Year,^[30] and Liam Horne was voted Players' Player of the Year.^[31]

Castleford's first fixture of 2024 was against Keighley Cougars, announced in November 2023.^[85] They also faced the London Broncos and the Huddersfield Giants, both announced in December.^[86][87]

More information Date, Opposition ...

Date	Opposition	H/A	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Drop goals	Source
Sun 14 January[a]	Keighley Cougars	A	Cougar Park	W	54–0	Simm, Tasipale, I. Senior (2), Hodson (2), Miller, Horne, Johnson, Qareqare	Hooley (7/10)		[88]
Sun 21 January	London Broncos	H	Wheldon Road	D	14–14	Wood, I. Senior (2)	Richardson (1/2), Hooley (0/1)		[89]
Sun 4 February[b]	Huddersfield Giants	H	Wheldon Road	W	20–14	Watts, Wood (2), Simm	Hooley (2/4)		[90]

Close

As a Super League club, Castleford entered the 2024 Challenge Cup in the Sixth Round, scheduled to be played in late March.^[93] In the Sixth Round draw on 11 March, they drew the Batley Bulldogs.^[94] In the draw for the quarter-finals on 25 March, Castleford were paired against the Wigan Warriors.^[95]

Sixth round: Sat 23 March	Batley Bulldogs	14–28	Castleford Tigers	Batley
15:00 GMT	Tries: Manning  9' Moore  32' Goals: D. Gibbons (3/3)  10', 13 (p)', 33'	BBC Report Sky Report	Tries: Simm  23' Milnes  27' I. Senior  40', 71' McShane  43' Miller  64' Goals: Milnes (0/1) McShane (2/5)  28', 44' Sin bin: Mellor 56' to 66'	Stadium: Mount Pleasant Attendance: 2,015 Referee: Marcus Griffiths

Quarter-final: Sun 14 April	Castleford Tigers	06–60	Wigan Warriors	Castleford
15:00 BST	Tries: I. Senior  32' Goals: Richardson (1/1)  34'	BBC Report Sky Report	Tries: Marshall  4', 18', 50', 57' O'Neill  7' French  13' Keighran  22' Miski  45', 69' Leeming  47' Wardle  66' Dupree  78' Goals: Smith (6/12)  8', 15', 20', 23', 49', 80'	Stadium: Wheldon Road Attendance: 4,097 Referee: Liam Moore