Castleford Tigers boss Danny McGuire's 'pride and commitment' demand for Hull KR Super League opener

Last year’s Betfred Super League runners-up are a tough task for a Tigers side still reeling from the Challenge Cup defeat at second-tier Bradford Bulls five days earlier. Injuries and a small squad limit McGuire’s options, but the coach - who will select from last week’s 17, plus Will Tate, Luke Hooley and loan duo Daniel Okoro and Ben Davies - revealed there will be changes.

“I am confident in the 17 we pick tomorrow,” he said. “They need to play with pride and commitment and do each other justice. That’s what we are after this weekend.”

Reflecting on the Cup loss, McGuire admitted to being “a bit emotional, a bit angry with some of the decisions and choices we made in that game” at Monday’s training session. “We had a tough meeting and we feel like we’ve ironed out a few of those not so good things and we had a look at some of the things we did better in the second half, as well,” he insisted.

“It [mood in the camp] was flat in the early part of the week, but then - when you get an opportunity to play your first Super League game at a tough place like Hull KR - everyone started to bounce and I feel like we’ve had a really good finish to the week.”

The coach reckons Tigers will “learn a lot” from the shock at Odsal. He added: “We all know it was disappointing, but it was our first competitive game; we are a team that’s still understanding, learning and trying to find out what works for us. I want to win every week and so do the players. We didn’t quite get it last week, but we get a chance to put it right on Friday.”

Hull KR: Evalds, T Davies, Haiku, Gildart, Burgess, Lewis, May, Sue, Litten, Waerea-Hargreaves, Hadley, Batchelor, Minchella, McIlorum, Luckley, Whitbread, Martin, Broadbent, Tanginoa, Brown, Leyland.

Castleford Tigers: from Hoy, Cini, Wood, I Senior, Asi, Watts, Horne, Lawler, Simbiken, Westerman, Rimbu, Griffin, Hooley, Hodson, Mustapha, Namo, Rooney, Sim, Tate, Okoro, B Davies.

Referee: Liam Rush (Dewsbury/Batley). Kick-off: Friday, 8pm.