Castleford Tigers coach Ryan Carr on figuring things out, Wigan Warriors threat and 80-minute quest

Tigers have had two weeks to stew on their 34-0 home loss to Wakefield Trinity at Easter and Carr insisted: “It’s unreasonable to just be highly emotional about every game you lose, it’s more looking into why and the cause and effect of things and trying to make sure we improve and keep building as a team and a squad. We understand the performance wasn’t good enough, but we’ve got to figure out why and how we fix it.”

That said, Carr – who has named only a 20-man squad – admitted he has had some tough conversations with players over the past two weeks. “People know where they sit,” he added. “I am figuring out a lot about a lot of individuals here. I’ve only been here a handful of games far and it takes time to figure out people and players.

“It is my job to continue to figure things out and make sure we get to the best outcome along the journey we are on. We are only at the start of it at the moment and there’s a lot ahead of us, but I am certainly learning a lot about people, that’s for sure.”

Carr feels being better in “contact and collisions”is crucial this week. He vowed: “They know what we are meant to do, how they are meant to do it and why - there’s no doubt about that. What we need to be better at is getting it done.

“What hasn’t changed is our preparation, our commitment to the contest each week and how much effort the players are putting in at training. There has never been a session when I’ve thought we weren’t on.

“A good performance or a bad performance hasn’t changed how the week has looked. They’ve all been consistent, it is the actual game day we are trying to get right at the moment.”

Wigan have lost their last two Betfred Super League games, but bounced back with a hard-fought win at Wakefield in the Challenge Cup last Sunday. “They are a great team,” Carr observed. “They are big, physical, fast - they’ve got it all.

“It is going to be a big contest for us, similar to the last one we had.They play direct and we are going to have to make sure we are at our absolute best. We have to be good for the whole 80 minutes, not just patches.”

With Bevan French still injured and scrum-half Harry Smith beginning a three-match ban, Wigan are without their first-choice play-makers. Warriors forward Sam Walters is also suspended. Wigan’s squad includes Tom Forber who was on loan at Tigers two weeks ago.

However, Carr - who has added Semi Valemei and Jenson Windley to a 20-man squad but will be without Joe Westerman - stressed: “I am really more concerned about the individuals in my building and making sure they get the job done to the level I know they can do and have seen them do within games this year, even within games we’ve lost. I need to see it for the full 80 minutes.”

Wigan Warriors: from Field, Eckersley, Keighran, Marshall, Havard, O’Neill, Thompson, Nsemba, Farrell, Ellis, Mago, Partington, Farrimond, Eseh, Forber, McDermott, Kerr, Mason, Hodkinson, Vaughan, Sambou.

Castleford Tigers: from Valemei, Cini, McIntosh, Ravalawa, Asi, Weaver, Atoni, Hood, Lawler, Lane, Mellor, Stimson, Greacen, Ashworth, Doolan, Qareqare, Mapapalangi, Windley, Hall, Hirst.

Referee: James Vella. Kick-off: Sunday, 3pm.