Hull KR offer hope to Danny McGuire and Castleford Tigers amid own struggles

The Tigers were outmuscled and outplayed by part-time Bradford for large parts of last week's cup tie at Odsal, raising fears about the damage a top Super League side could inflict.

But a visit to Craven Park offers a reminder of what is possible – and perhaps even a window into their future.

Before they became leading contenders for the title, KR were where the Tigers are now, scratching around at the bottom of Super League and seemingly devoid of hope.

After going on that journey with the Robins, Danny McGuire has a clear blueprint as he sets about restoring Castleford's fortunes.

"I feel like I played a decent role alongside a lot of other people trying to create a good environment for people to grow and get better," said the Tigers head coach.

"We're seeing the results now. You've got to have that belief and trust that you can get there over time.

"It didn't happen overnight at Hull KR. My first couple of years there were really tough until we got better people in and created a better environment. That's when performances start to improve.

"We were always supported really well and now the fans there have got a lot to cheer about."

Such was the extent of KR's troubles, McGuire was only points difference away from suffering relegation in the final game of his storied playing career in 2019.

Worse was to come when the Robins finished bottom of Super League the following year but they eventually turned the corner with McGuire's help in his role as an assistant.

Now, an away date with Rovers presents the ultimate test.

"I'm excited for it," he added ahead of his first return to Craven Park as a head coach in round one.

"I've always said I loved my time at KR. The five or six years I had there were as enjoyable as any I had at Leeds.

"I've got loads of great friends and great memories there. I'm looking forward to going back but I don't think we could have got a harder fixture.

"It will give me another good indication of my players' mentality and how they want to go about things this year."

Last week's nightmare outing at Bradford was the worst possible start for McGuire and did a good job of dampening fans' enthusiasm before a ball has even been kicked in Super League.

McGuire has seen enough behind the scenes to offer him hope for the rest of the season.

"We're doing some good things for moments but not for long enough," he said.

"Is it fitness? Is it mental toughness? It's probably a combination of things we need to get on top of.

"We'll keep working with the players. Their attitude to training and everything we've been throwing at them has been outstanding. While ever that's the case, we'll keep working with them."

Castleford have issued a strong response to their early Challenge Cup exit.

As well as signing Ben Davies and Nick Staveley, owner Martin Jepson has cut a holiday short to attend Craven Park in a message to the players.

There will be desperation in the away camp as the Tigers aim to show they are better than what they served up last week – but, true to form, Willie Peters is not interested in the situation at KR's Yorkshire rivals.

"I'm not too bothered, to be honest," said the Rovers head coach.

"It's about what we can control. That's all I worry about."

Castleford's lightweight pack were bullied by their Bradford counterparts in the cup, which could lead to McGuire tinkering with his tactics at Craven Park.

"They'll come to play, there's no doubt about that," added Peters.

"Knowing Mags and Frog (Brett Delaney, assistant), they'll be getting them up this week to play.

"It's round one so we're expecting a round one performance from our opposition team – and we're going to give them a round one performance.

"They might look to throw the ball around and play a bit or come through the middle. We've got a system that will hold up either way.

"We can only worry about ourselves but we've looked at the way they play and what we think they'll throw at us. We're also expecting things we haven't seen as well.

"If we carry out our system well, it will hold up against anything."

Peters was assisted by McGuire in his first season with the Robins before going in a different direction.

The Australian has backed the Leeds Rhinos legend to right the ship at Castleford.

"I think he'll do extremely well," said Peters.

"He was a competitive player, one of the best players in the competition over many, many years.

"He's a coach that will get the best out of his players. Brett Delaney is a competitive guy as well so they'll have a team that will compete hard."