Danny McGuire is trying to ensure Castleford Tigers are focused on themselves as they seek to turn around a wretched start to the 2025 season against an embattled Salford Red Devils on Friday night.
Failure by the club’s new owners to pay February’s wages on time saw the Red Devils placed back under a £1.2million sustainability cap, with head coach Paul Rowley again restricted to naming a bare 17-player squad, albeit a stronger one that the opening-round 82-0 defeat to St Helens, for the match at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle.
Tigers head coach McGuire empathised with Salford’s situation, but has his own issues to focus on as Cas have yet to win a game in the Betfred Super League so far this year, not to mention suffering a Betfred Challenge Cup exit to Betfred Championship side Bradford Bulls.
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“We’re preparing for the best Salford team and we’re doing everything possible to make sure we’re in a good position to play well,” McGuire, whose side only have the Red Devils below them on points difference in the early standings, said. “All the other things are out of my control.
“Salford have got some really good players, and I don’t think anyone wants to see the game that happened first up against St Helens.
“I feel for the Salford players and fans, and we all want the game to be successful, but ultimately I can’t worry about it.
“I’ve got too much going on from day-to-day to try and make this team competitive.”
Even with a squad being named, there are still doubts over whether Friday’s Round 4 match will even go ahead, with Salford’s players understood to have refused to train due to non-payment of wages.
Red Devils CEO Chris Irwin met with the RFL’s special measures committee and members of Rugby League Commercial on Wednesday.
The club blamed the delay on funding awaiting regulatory clearance due to the money coming from overseas in a statement posted after the Tuesday lunchtime deadline to meet February’s payroll was missed.
Rugby League Players Association boss Garreth Carvell confirmed the deadline for Salford’s players and staff to receive last month’s wages had been pushed back again, but vowed the union would take legal action to recoup the money owed if it came to that.
“Unsurprisingly the players and staff are very concerned,” Carvell told Loverugbyleague.com.
“We will contact the club should the next deadline pass without payment to work with the club and take any action that is needed to recover the wages owed.
“We are the only security that the players have and that can be evidenced when you consider the fact that we have recovered hundreds of thousands in unpaid wages over the past few years and millions in compensation.”
