Danny McGuire opens up on his Castleford Tigers exit, recruitment issues, Chris Chester and his future.
Danny McGuire has opened up on his “disappointing” departure from Castleford Tigers during a candid appearance on All Out Rugby League’s Back Ten podcast.
The Leeds Rhinos legend was surprisingly sacked less than nine months into his head coaching role at Castleford. He had signed a three-year deal to succeed Craig Lingard ahead of the 2025 Super League season.
Since his exit, McGuire has spent time gaining experience in rugby union, as well as learning from Wigan Warriors boss Matt Peet, working with Brad Arthur at Leeds Rhinos, and taking on various media duties.
The ex-England and Great Britain star was only in charge for 17 matches at The Jungle, winning just four.
“I’m still angry, I don’t know how long that’ll take,” McGuire admitted on the Back Ten Podcast, with hosts Kyle Amor and Matt Shaw.
“You know what I’m like, I’m quite fiery. I am disappointed. I suppose, naively, I probably saw this project and I’ve always been a winner. I always want to win, I want to be successful, I want to be the best at anything that I ever do and I could kind of see things happening..
“Behind the scenes, there were some really good things happening at the club. The environment was improving, it was a better place for the players to be part of, and every player sent me a message when I got the sack saying that they loved working with me and they were sad to see me go.
“So, I’m really content with what I delivered in my time at Cas. I know I worked hard.
“But it has scarred me, I’m not going to lie. You know it’s ruthless, I’m not naive enough to know that wasn’t going to happen. I just felt like I trusted a little bit too much, and I probably won’t do that again, I’ll probably make sure everything is water-tight and I’m in a position not to be in this position again.”
McGuire, 42, revealed he had a short window to prepare Castleford’s pre-season after taking the role while on holiday in Spain. He also claimed he had little input on recruitment – a key issue for Castleford during a disappointing campaign.
Director of Rugby Chris Chester has since overseen a major squad overhaul, including high-profile NRL recruits such as Brock Greacen, Blake Taaffe, Mikaele Rivalawa, and Semi Valemei for 2026.
“I took the job 10 days before the start of pre-season, so I had 10 days to plan a pre-season,” McGuire continued.
“It doesn’t happen overnight, it’s months and months of preparation and I was in Spain on my holidays when I took the job and had to turn around and put a plan together.
“Some of the boys have said it was one of the toughest and best pre-seasons that they had, and that’s why I’m really content with some of the things that we did.
“The recruitment had already been done, because I took the job really late. Danny Wilson and obviously Craig Lingard, who was coach at the time, so most of the signings for this season were done before I took the job.
“We added a couple of players mid-season, Brad Singleton, Chris Atkin, Tom Amone, to try and bolster the ranks when we were short numbers and down on troops a little bit.
“It was basically, this is a squad, and I was happy to do that. I saw the players, I knew the players were working hard, I knew I could help influence that and help them grow, but probably just needed a bit more time.
“The players were all class, I’d never say anything bad about them. They were trying their hardest for the 18 months I was there. But being honest, the squad lacked quality and depth, but I was willing to work with it and help the players improve. That’s what I do as a coach. I love working with the players.”
Chester, who had only recently arrived from Leigh Leopards, was the one to deliver the news of McGuire’s sacking. Many believed his arrival signalled the beginning of the end for McGuire – something the former England international doesn’t fully agree with.
“I’d like to hope there weren’t some plans going on behind the scenes,” McGuire said.
“Chris Chester came in and I really thought it was a really good step, adding his experience in recruitment. I can’t remember the last time Cas got an overseas signing right, and look at Chris’ record at Leigh, very strong recruitment.
“I was happy to work alongside that and for him to help us grow as a club. And he came in and he observed for a few weeks and I got some feedback after about six weeks saying that he was feeding back to the board, that he was really happy with what we were delivering to the players. We were getting as much out of the players as we could.
“That’s why it came as a shock.”
Despite the setback, the eight-time Super League champion remains motivated and optimistic about his future in the sport.
“It’s been tough, I’m not going to lie,” the former playmaker and prolific try-scorer said.
“I’ve tried to keep busy, keep learning, and doing some things.
“A bit of media. I’ve spent some time with rugby union clubs, and a bit of time with Matt Peet, Sean O’Loughlin and Tommy Leuluai at Wigan, I enjoyed that, and some time with Brad Arthur at Leeds.
“Keeping busy, keeping learning, keeping motivated and waiting for the next opportunity to come around.”