New Castleford coach Ian Millward admits he made a mistake taking the Wigan job in 2005, but has recovered and is ready to build again.
New Tigers boss admits Wigan didn't come at the right time
New Castleford coach Ian Millward admits he made a mistake taking the Wigan job in 2005, but has recovered and is ready to build again.
Millward began his Super League career in 2000 when he became head coach at St Helens and in five years he won two league titles as well as two Challenge Cups and a World Club Challenge.
However, the 51-year-old's time with the Saints was brought to an abrupt end when he was dismissed in controversial fashion after a gross misconduct hearing.
Millward went on to take over the reins at Saints' fierce rivals Wigan, but now realises that he wasn't in the right position and a rest from the sport would have been his best option.
"Mentally I wasn't ready for the Wigan job," he admitted. "After the St Helens thing, that took a lot out of me. Looking back, I should have taken a break for a little while.
"Having said that, I had success here and I always thought I would be back at some stage."
"I needed to refresh myself and I also needed to challenge myself. I went back to Australia and really enjoyed it, but I came back for family reasons."
Refresh
After a three-year spell with North Queensland Cowboys in Australia, Millward made the decision to return and anticipates a thrilling future as Castleford Tigers look to use more home-grown talent.
"We've probably recruited least in the Super League," he said. "Nine players left and we've brought four in.
"It's exciting here from a long-term point of view. It's an area that produces young kids and we're relying a lot more on locals."
With development of a 13,300 capacity stadium in progress, Castleford are on the move as a club and Millward believes there is great potential to build a title-contending side in time.
"I think we can really build something here," he added. "We've got to be patient and get all the foundations right. If we do that, we can move forward.
"Obviously the club has got a big focus on getting into the new stadium. As much as we say the youth development will underpin the rugby league, the new stadium will underpin the whole business."
