Castleford Tigers chief Danny Wilson opens up on ill-fated 2023 and explains why future is brighter

Lee Radford's pre-season trip to Samoa signalled the beginning of the end of his time in charge of Castleford, triggering a chain of events that led to the club getting through three head coaches in their fight to stay in Super League.

In the end, an ageing squad did enough to stay up under interim boss Danny Ward after securing a pivotal victory over relegation rivals Wakefield Trinity.

A crisis had been averted but Wilson, who stepped up from his role as head of rugby and development last May, is still pained by the experience.

"I've been watching the Arsenal documentary and can feel exactly what they felt when they could do nothing right at the start," he tells The Yorkshire Post.

"There were that many factors in the performance that there wasn't any one thing where you thought if you changed that it would have changed everything.

"Everything just had an impact, whether it was the players pointing at the direction of the club, the coaches and the pre-season, players not being able to train or getting old. Once one thing starts to roll, everything starts to snowball and everything becomes an issue.

"If you're winning 60-70 per cent of your games, not one of those things becomes significant but everything accumulated into one thing."

Nobody was safe from criticism as Castleford's season unravelled.

Andy Last, who jumped at the chance to take his first head coach role despite the challenging circumstances, bore the brunt.

"I felt really sorry for Lasty because he got a really tough gig and worked as hard as any coach I’ve seen," says Wilson.

"Maybe he couldn't get fans onside because he doesn’t look the most exciting.

"He really did run his blood to water. He's at Catalans now which shows the quality of the man.

"I think he would also admit that it was the right time for him to go. Something needed to change and you can't change the full team.

"Although it wasn't fair and probably wasn't right, because of where the club was at and he was at, he was drained."

Inevitably given his role at the club, Wilson found himself in the firing line.

"We're all human beings and nobody wants to be criticised," he adds.

"If you can understand people's criticism, you can stomach it. The ones you can't understand you just don't listen to.

"I didn't get any more stick than anyone else last year. I try and stay off social media but when someone does say something about me personally, my really good friends send me it so it always finds its way to me!

"I can understand it. People pay their hard-earned money to have an opinion and say it sometimes."

Wilson knew what he was getting into when he accepted the responsibility of transforming the first team.

The former Gateshead Thunder and York Knights winger arrived at Wheldon Road in 2021 with a wealth of experience in youth development.

"When you're the head of youth at a club, I think it's a really good footing," he says.

"A lot of people have done that in the game. Matty Peet, Mike Rush and Gary Chambers have all stepped into different roles after being heads of youth.

"Being the director of rugby at Castleford is very enjoyable because I feel like we're starting afresh. We've got a blank canvas and are trying to build something for the next 10 years.

"Don't get me wrong, when I stepped into the role last year it was the worst time in my sporting career, as it probably was for most people.

"Professional sport is a lifestyle. You don't go home and switch off.

"But it must be enjoyable otherwise why would we do it? After a year like last year, most people would walk away, the fans included. They'd have every right to walk away but they stick with it because we all get the same kick out of hope and winning.

"It's full-on but it's rewarding and enjoyable."

Sign up to our new Sports Editor’s TeamTalk newsletter available next week

One of Wilson's early objectives was to ensure last season would not be repeated by building a vibrant new squad.

The project was a tough sell to seasoned Super League players who have nothing to prove.

Castleford instead targeted hungry individuals with the potential to grow with the club.

"Where we are as a club after starting afresh and drawing a line under the past, we wanted players with the best years ahead of them who want to prove themselves," says Wilson.

"When it came to recruiting those players, we sell them that vision and they buy into that and become part of it.

"It becomes difficult with higher-profile players who have top-end clubs interested. They'll look at it and say that we nearly got relegated last year.

"In three years' time, we want to be telling them to come to Castleford because we're going to win things, our stadium is fantastic, our facilities are great and we've shown over that time that we've got a great culture.

"You can't just click your fingers and make that happen. With the IMG criteria and where we are as a club, we've got the benefit of being able to say it's a three-year journey and when we get to the end of those three years we'll be back where the club needs to be amongst the big, powerful clubs.

"I think we've got a really good squad for where we are in terms of the rebuild. All the things we could have changed or should have changed last year we've done in the off-season."

Change is needed at Wheldon Road off the field as much as on it.

At long last, the plans to redevelop Castleford's tired old stadium have been approved by the local council.

"Everyone has been waiting decades for this," says Wilson.

"The Jungle has got a lot of atmosphere and is very traditional but it still very much needs a makeover.

"I think the people of Castleford deserve to walk into a stadium that still has the atmosphere but is one they can be proud to show off to visiting teams.

"I'm really looking forward to the work getting started. Mark (Grattan, managing director) is already on with ticking certain boxes for IMG. Work has already started in certain areas of the stadium.

"As soon as the funding is signed off, it will just continue to progress. You'll start to see seats going into the stand throughout this year.

"We want to see diggers in the ground as soon as possible."

The new grading system introduced by IMG has removed much of the jeopardy on the field but it is an uncertain time for the clubs that were straddling the line between Super League and the Championship in the indicative phase of the rollout.

Castleford's work since avoiding the drop – which includes adding successful businessman Martin Jepson to the board – has strengthened the belief that the Tigers will not be one of the first victims of the switch.

"I've seen Mark's plan of what he wants to tick and he's convinced me that we'll be a Super League club and can get to a high-end B," says Wilson.

"It's a really good time for the club. We don't always make it a priority to sing and dance about the positive news but we've got a new guy who is investing on the board, a new stadium build on the horizon and a couple of million being put into the club by the council where we're ticking off IMG criteria.

"We're in a really, really good place. We've just got to get performances lined up on the field. That all starts this week.

"We'll have some bumps in the road but it's on the way up, whereas last year it just felt like the bumps in the road were on the way down."

Castleford face a daunting date with Wigan Warriors in round one but every challenge presents an opportunity.

With the BBC cameras in town, the Tigers could go a long way to putting last season behind them this evening.

"It was heartbreaking and I had sleepless nights but we're in week one now and everybody is excited," says Wilson.

"We've spoken a lot about hard work and resilience. There's no better platform to prove that than against the champions on the BBC.

"Stu (Vause), the groundsman, won't let us train on the pitch because he wants it looking tip-top for the cameras. Everybody is ready to go.

"I think we have got a gritty, tough team. If Wigan are going to beat us, we're going to make it hard for them. If we can be in the battle towards the end of the game, I'd back us to come out on top.

"That's what we're hoping to see. More than anything, we want the fans to see that our team is working as hard as they possibly can for them."