New Castleford Tigers boss Danny Ward ready to "steam" into Wakefield Trinity

17 August 2023 , 15:19

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New Castleford Tigers coach Danny Ward working ahead of first game in charge

New Castleford boss Danny Ward says he can’t wait to “steam straight in” to relegation rivals Wakefield.

The ex-Leeds prop, 43, takes charge on Friday for the first time since being appointed with just six games to save turmoiled Tigers from the drop. They are joint-bottom with fierce foes Trinity and in desperate need of a win after five straight losses.

"But resurgent Wakefield have won four of their last seven ahead of the latest Battle of Belle Vue and only trail Castleford by virtue of a poorer points difference. It could be seen as the worst possible fixture for ex-London boss Ward to start his reign.

But the straight-talking Yorkshireman sees it the opposite way: "I'm seeing it as a positive. I'm not seeing it as the worst game. I'm absolutely buzzing to be going to Wakefield on a Friday night with Castleford.

"It's a local derby, a big game for where we are in the league table, a massive crowd and on Sky, so it's the best game for me to steam straight into. We’ll probably go in as underdogs but we've made some tweaks and I can’t wait for us to get out there.”

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Ward, likely to give a debut to ex-Leeds stand-off Blake Austin, described his first few days at the helm as “madness” as he got to grips with everything that’s going on. Ward has been out of rugby league for two years since leaving Championship London and had most recently been working with rugby union part-timers Rosslyn Park. But the ex-Great Britain assistant can’t wait to get cracking again - even if this evening’s game brings up unhappy memories of 2006.

Castleford Tigers' new coach Danny Ward gets his point across in training

Back then, Ward was part of the Castleford side demoted in a dramatic final night relegation shoot-out at Wakefield. Ahead of another sell-out night at Belle Vue - admittedly smaller due to building work - he said: "I know there’s a lot of talk about that one. Being at that game, it was a huge one. A couple of the lads had seen it on repeat somewhere this week. I gave it a miss. I don’t want to relive it.

“I’m sure there’ll be a similar atmosphere on Friday. But I don’t want to put any extra pressure on the lads. And it's not alright coming out, getting a win at Wakey, celebrating like you've won the cup final only to then be poor in your last five. It is just one game at a time. How many times is that going to be said in the next five weeks?”

David Craven