Castleford Tigers hoping Danny Ward's fresh take can provide vital boost in relegation fight

​The Tigers have turned to former Cas player Ward as head coach after getting the opinions of players on what they felt they needed in order to help them do the business on the pitch in the six games remaining in the 2023 season.

And the first of those six matches does not come any bigger with tomorrow night’s clash with relegation rivals Wakefield Trinity at the Be Well Support Stadium.

Although this match will not decide who will be dropping out of the top flight the losers will find themselves two points adrift at this crucial stage of the season.

Trinity clearly go into the game in the better form with four wins in their last seven games – all at home – while the Tigers have lost their last five and have still to register a win on opponents’ soil all year.

But Cas did win the first meeting of the two teams back in April and they hope to be boosted by the presence of new head man Ward who has experience of relegation fights as a player and coach.

On the decision to appoint him as well as Dane Dorahy as assistant coach, Tigers director of rugby operations Danny Wilson explained: “We started the process of having to appoint a new coach and we consulted the playing group and asked them what they felt they needed.

“Immediately we thought that Danny Ward was someone who fit the bill and we made contact.

“Danny is still young with experience at Super League level and we wanted to bring in another new coach with new ideas.

“We looked overseas to see who the young talented coaches are within the NRL system and Dane’s name came up.

"We started a process to look at that and his coaching background which was very exciting to us.

“I think it shows our intent to stay in Super League to bring not just a coach of the calibre of Danny Ward in, but to also bring in an assistant who is up and coming to compliment the great work that Craig Lingard and Scott Murrell are already doing.

“We’ve boxed it off now and we can really move forward and kick on for the last six games of the season.”