Castleford Tigers boss Ryan Carr has explained how his team have responded to the 72-6 thumping handed to them by Warrington Wolves last weekend.
Carr claimed after the game that Saturday afternoon was one of the worst games he’d been involved in as a head coach, with a number of senior players failing to show up or put in any level of effort worthy of Super League standard.
That has led to him having some uncomfortable discussions both with the group and some individuals, as they look to respond and bounce back this week against Bradford Bulls.
“We reviewed it thoroughly, we didn’t skim over it and we made people accountable for it,” explained the boss in his weekly press conference.
“It was important that we learn from a day out like that and yeah, certainly didn’t just sweep it under the carpet and say it’s okay, that’s for sure.
Revealing how he has made those players accountable, he said: “We made them talk and explain themselves in those moments.
“At the end of the day, as much as I’d love to be out there, I’m not, so you’ve got to have some accountability for your actions on the field, whoever is on at that time. It’s things that we speak about all week and we practise all week, so it’s not like it’s an off-guard thing, it’s just an attitude in that moment.
“They [Warrington] wanted it more than what some of our players did at that time, which is disappointing.”
Whilst he refused to use it as an excuse, injuries have played a part in Castleford’s poor start, and had it not been for so many players on the sidelines, there would have been some selection changes this week.
As it happens, Carr is unable to do that, so he had to have those difficult conversations with players on both sides on the experience scale.
He said: “I’ve handled it differently with different players who’ve had more experience than others.
“It’s not really fair of me to attack guys who are playing their first game or their second game of Super League at this level. They’re learning some hard lessons, you know, get things wrong within a game, but it’s literally their first and second game of Super League.
“There’s guys out there who’ve played over 100 games and it’s just not acceptable.”
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Castleford Tigers boss sends message to fans after Warrington Wolves thrashing
Speaking post-match, Carr revealed how sorry he felt for the travelling fans who turned up to watch such a dismal performance, but has pleaded them to continue supporting the club through the difficult period.
Castleford fans have not had much to cheer about in recent seasons, and their optimism that they had at the start of the year is slowly declining. Carr is undertaking a huge rebuild at the club, and whilst the efforts against Warrington were a particular low point, he has urged fans to keep faith in the side in the coming weeks.
“We’ve got awesome fans. We’ve got passionate fans and it’s their passion that makes them disappointed when they see that and I can fully understand that.
“I do plead with them that they stick by us. Like I said, based on our performances prior to that, I think we’ve given our crowd something to be proud of.
“When they’ve come to watch us here against Wigan at home and Huddersfield here at home, and even the St Helens game in the Challenge Cup where we fought our way back into that really well, deep into that second half.
“You can only plead with them, but I can understand their frustration and their disappointment. We’ve spoken about that, about how we let them down.”
