https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/th...the-crosshairs-at-tigers-20210425-p57m9o.html
Michael Maguire equalled Jason Taylor on Sunday as the second-longest serving coach in Wests Tigers history. His record is now worse.
In his 51 games as Wests Tigers coach, Maguire has won just 19 at a rate of 37.3 per cent. Even Taylor, who was sacked just three rounds into the 2017 season in the hope of keeping the now defunct big four, had a better record.
Granted, new coaches are always given time to rebuild, but time is now revealing that this may be more than just a Wests Tigers problem. Perhaps there’s a Michael Maguire problem?
n Maguire’s last 51 games in charge of a star-studded Rabbitohs side, his success rate was even worse (18 wins) than it is now at the Wests Tigers.
The mood in the dressing rooms following a 46-6 loss to Canberra in the nation’s capital four years ago was enough to convince the Tigers to pull the trigger on Taylor. Club hierarchy decided that Taylor had lost the dressing room. They would have been wondering the same thing again after the Anzac Day demolition at the hands of Manly at Bankwest Stadium.
At the time, sacking the coach was a non-negotiable. But what Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett has since been able to extract from a 36-year-old Marshall is just one reason why Maguire is no longer on such solid ground.
Maguire’s decision to drop Marshall after round four was the beginning of the end for the Kiwi at the club. Marshall felt so disrespected, and hard done by given his Dally M-leading form over the opening month of the season, that his strong relationship with the coach deteriorated rapidly.
Marshall was so upset with how things played out that he did not want his wife and son at his final game. He even left the match ball that was presented to him inside the change rooms at Bankwest Stadium, and had to be begged to attend the club’s presentation a few nights later.
Maguire would never talk about it publicly, but multiple sources within the club have told the
Herald the Tigers coach began to question Marshall’s influence on the team.
Internally, there was a feeling the narrative – that the coach had lost the dressing room – stemmed from Marshall’s discontent towards him. That may have been the case, but perhaps someone at the club should have listened to what was being said, not who was saying it.
The players aren’t without fault, but they don’t appear to be playing for the jersey or the coach. The club held those fears over the summer. It’s why they would only give Maguire a two-year extension if he agreed to specific performance-based clauses that allowed them to spear him without a huge financial hit.
While the Tigers need to be applauded for nabbing some of the best young players in the game, the fact they can’t attract any big name quality players isn’t a good reflection of the coach.
In an interview in the preseason, Maguire tried to sugar-coat it by saying he didn’t want players who were afraid of hard work. Having spoken to several players about the Tigers, the concern isn’t about hard work, but being over-worked.
Since
Benji Marshall turned back the clock on Friday night to lead South Sydney to a come-from-behind win against the Titans, questions have been asked as to why the Tigers let him go. But those suggesting the Tigers should have done more to keep Marshall are oblivious to what went on in Marshall’s last season at the club. What he could offer the team on a football field became irrelevant.
The only way Marshall could have stayed at the Wests Tigers and it not blow up in their face was if the club chose him over Maguire. That’s how badly their relationship had soured.
