Castleford Tigers v Wigan Warriors: Craig Lingard comfortable with no-hopers tag at start of Wheldon Road rebuild

Few outsiders are predicting the Tigers to finish in the top 10, let alone trouble the play-offs.

New Castleford boss Craig Lingard is no stranger to being written off after four years in charge of unfancied Championship part-timers Batley Bulldogs.

He is comfortable with the Tigers being branded no-hopers.

"It doesn't bother me," Lingard told The Yorkshire Post.

"I've had this all my coaching career. At Batley, we were always tipped to be at the bottom end of the table and ended up shocking people.

"Sometimes it makes things a bit easier not having that external pressure.

"We know where we are as a club and have put expectations on ourselves, standards-wise rather than saying we want to win X amount of games and finish in a certain position.

"We know if we meet those expectations, we're going to probably win more games than we did last season."

Lingard led Batley to a fourth-place finish in his first full season in charge before taking the Bulldogs all the way to the Championship Grand Final in 2022.

Last year, the 46-year-old became the first coach to lead Batley out at Wembley and missed out on the play-offs only on points difference.

Lingard takes confidence from his work at Mount Pleasant as he sets about reviving the Tigers.

"There's a bit of a blueprint there," said Lingard.

"I see some similarities in the clubs in their positions in their respective divisions and the journey they were both on.

"I'd like to think I've got that experience of bringing a team together and maybe overachieving to a certain degree – but just because you’ve done it in the Championship doesn't automatically mean you're going to do it in Super League."

After seeing an ageing squad break apart at the seams in a miserable 2023 campaign, the Tigers recruited hungry players with points to prove.

There were no household names among the 12 new signings – with even the overseas players arriving from the reserve-grade competitions in Australia – but Lingard feels it was the right recruitment approach at the right time for the club.

"We're not under any illusions that the players that have come to Castleford could have signed for the top two or three teams," said Lingard, who begins the season without injured co-captain Paul McShane.

"We've got the players we've got because they couldn't nail a starting position down at other clubs. They've come to Castleford to do that.

"You've got to bring the right kind of people into your organisation and make sure they have the right personalities so there are no clashes.

"Everybody who has spoken about the team spirit and camaraderie this year has said there are no pockets of players or split-offs. Everybody is in it together which is what we aimed to do at the start of pre-season."

Lingard joined the Tigers as an assistant midway through last year but wiped the slate clean once he was appointed as head coach.

Pre-season is a time when bolters move from the fringes to the matchday 17.

Given the circumstances at Wheldon Road, players new and old had points to prove.

"It's a difficult one because I think everyone was on the fringes," he said on Castleford’s pre-season bolters.

"A lot of new players came in so there were a lot of unknowns about how they'd adapt and the combinations they'd strike up.

"Danny Richardson is coming back from 18 months out. He's one of the ones we're looking forward to seeing.

"You don't want to get any injuries to your spine. It's going to be important for every team but certainly us this year."

The fixture list was not kind to the Tigers with defending champions Wigan Warriors first up on home soil this evening.

There were 28 points and 10 places between the sides last year as Wigan claimed the League Leaders' Shield to set up the chance to beat Catalans Dragons at Old Trafford.

By contrast, Castleford won only six games all season and suffered 10 defeats in front of their own fans.

If the Tigers are to defy the doubters, they need to rediscover their bite at the Jungle.

When asked what would constitute a good season for Castleford, Lingard replied: "Improvement. We want to be better than we were last year, significantly better.

"We need to be difficult to beat which often turns into winning more games than you lose.

"We were too easy to beat last season. We don't want to be easy beats this season.

"I think it was too nice for teams to come here last year. We need to make it horrible for people to come here."