Castleford Tigers v Wigan Warriors: Matt Peet pays compliment to Danny McGuire ahead of Super League clash

The Round 16 clash at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle will be the first time Wigan and Castleford have faced off in 2025. The Warriors are currently second in the Super League table, whilst the Tigers are tenth.

Saturday will also mark the first time that Peet has faced McGuire as a head coach. Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Peet was full of praise for his Castleford counterpart.

"I’ve always got on well with Danny,” Peet said. “When I say respect, I always have a good talk with him when I see him or on the phone, he’s a straight shooter and he was when he played, so I think that’s the kind of coach he’ll be.

"Whenever I’ve had the pleasure of dealing with him, it’s always been a good, honest chat, and he’s obviously got a bright rugby brain.

"He’s certainly passionate about the game, and he’s tried to put his stamp on Castleford, which I’m sure he will.”

Peet enjoyed a number of roles with Wigan before making the step up to become the head coach of his hometown club ahead of the 2022 season.

Meanwhile, McGuire had spent time as an assistant coach at Hull KR before joining Castleford as Craig Lingard’s assistant ahead of 2024. He took on his first head coaching role prior to this season getting underway.

"To be honest, they are so different the roles (I’ve had),” Peet continued. “They’re almost incomparable.

"I always say I think my role as head of youth was better preparation (for the head coaching job). Being an assistant coach is all about on-field coaching and setting up a team, but you don’t have to deal with selecting the team, dealing with lads that aren’t playing, managing your own staff and recruitment etcetera, so Danny won’t need me to tell him that it’s a massive step, but what’s made him a good assistant coach and a good player will make him an excellent head coach, which is hard work and the desire to improve which, I think for all of us, is the key.”