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Madge’s big plan could ‘kill’ his Tigers career. The next two weeks are pivotal
Why no one wants to join the Tigers
Three years ago, Michael Maguire arrived at Concord Oval for his first day as head coach of the Wests Tigers with a bold vision.
“It’s a club we want to build,” Maguire said before adding: “I want to build it fast”.
In the Tigers Maguire saw potential – calling the joint-venture a “sleeping giant” and one that was waiting to be transformed into an NRL powerhouse.
Fast-forward to Sunday afternoon and Maguire was left to answer for another failed finals bid, even if he did not want to admit the season was over.
With everything on the line, the Tigers withered in a 50-20 defeat and exposed just how unrealistic the “fast” makeover Maguire advertised was.
Now he is committed to a long-term vision that he even admitted could “kill” him off as Tigers coach.
“I know this approach could kill me as a coach,” Maguire told News Corp in July.
“But I want to set the club up in a way that the Tigers can succeed long term, rather than Band-Aid solutions and quick fixes.”
It is exactly what the Broncos, Bulldogs and Cowboys are doing right now and they occupy the bottom spots on the ladder as a result.
For all three clubs though there is hope for the fanbase, a vision to buy into that justifies current results.
They have also had 18 finals appearances between them in the last decade while the Tigers, as is well-publicised, have none.
It has left the joint-venture in a tough position, desperately chasing a top-eight spot that may only be getting further away the more it focuses on it.
Questions have been asked of Maguire’s future but the real question is whether axing him will only send the club into an even longer rebuild.
WHAT DO THE NEXT TWO WEEKS REPRESENT?
As much as Maguire refused to believe the finals dream was over, a -162 points differential means the Tigers will be relying on a miracle to still be playing in September.
Instead, the focus in the next two weeks has to be on building towards 2022.
The Australian’s Brent Read told Triple M on Monday that could include figuring out whether Luke Brooks and Maguire will stay put.
“I just don’t see how he and Madge can both be there next year,” he said.
“It just doesn’t seem to be clicking and something has to give. The club needs to make some changes.”
Questions will have to be asked of the board, who should be held equally if not more accountable for its role too.
In terms of what Maguire can use the next two weeks to prove, injuries and suspension have limited the amount of players he has to work with.
The next fortnight also offers a chance for Zac Cini, Tom Amone, Michael Chee-Kam and Tom Mikaele to push for contract extensions beyond this year.
Russell Packer, Joey Leilua and James Roberts are all looking for a new deal but highly unlikely to get one.
In the Panthers and Bulldogs, the Tigers finish the season with two games that could not be more different from each other.
A loss to Penrith would leave them with absolutely nothing tangible to play for against the Bulldogs.
It is a game they will be expected to win but one that could just as easily end in defeat and only pose more questions of the playing group’s mentality heading into the off-season.
THE BIG QUESTION MARKS OVER THE ROSTER
The Tigers already have enough questions heading into the off-season, the biggest of which is what to do with halfback Brooks.
Maguire worked wonders with premiership-winning halves Luke Keary and Adam Reynolds during his time at South Sydney.
Naturally, his hope was that by better understanding Brooks he too could get the most out of the 2018 Dally M Halfback of the Year.
In that season though Brooks was primarily playing alongside Benji Marshall in the halves, who could shoulder more of the responsibility to organise and steer the team around.
It eased the pressure on Brooks but the issue for him now is that Adam Doueihi is not that same foil, with a running game his greatest strength.
After nine years, it may end up being in both the Tigers and Brooks’ best interests to move on.
The only problem with that approach is that the club would have to first know whether Jackson Hastings is the halfback they need or better suited at lock forward.
Otherwise, with the lack of quality options on the market right now, they may be better waiting until the end of next season to look for replacements.
The other glaring issue is the lack of genuine leader that was lacking in the capitulation against Cronulla.
It is not as simple as going after experience though, sometimes it can be better to build that experience over time in players you develop.
Look at the Tigers players with 100-plus NRL games - Moses Mbye, David Nofoaluma, Ken Maumalo, Luke Brooks, James Tamou, Joe Ofahengaue, James Roberts, Joey Leilua and Russell Packer.
Just two - Nofoaluma and Brooks - made their debuts at the club while a lot of those names are underperforming at the moment.
Rather than getting the most out of their experienced players, it is young and developing talent leading the way at the Tigers.
Maguire has a long-term vision for the club and part of that should be building experience from within.
Those younger players to drive that change can announce themselves in the next fortnight.
‘DON’T KNOW WHO THEY ARE’: TIGERS’ BIG RECRUITMENT DILEMMA
Of course, even if the Tigers do go to the market it remains to be seen whether they will be able to land that high-profile name that continues to elude them.
The Broncos (Adam Reynolds and Kurt Capewell) and Bulldogs (Josh Addo-Carr, Matt Burton and Tevita Pangai Jr) have identified weaknesses in their squads and spent big to address it.
Maguire told Triple M last week the club has taken a “long-term view” on its recruitment, refusing to blow the salary cap by paying overs.
He did admit that the club will eventually go to the market for a “strong marquee player” but only when the time is right
It is a fair point but the Tigers also need to get a better grasp of what exactly they will be selling when that time comes.
“They cannot attract big names and they need to found out why,” Fox League’s Michael Ennis said on Saturday night.
“They don’t know who they are. You never turn up and have a Wests Tigers side that has an identity – it changes so frequently.”
Maguire seems to have an idea of what that identity could look like, building around a core group of emerging talent.
Shawn Blore, Daine Laurie, Stefano Utoikamanu, Kelma Tuilagi, Tommy Talau, Tuki Simpkins and Adam Doueihi were the seven players Maguire mentioned last week.
That though will take time as will Maguire’s focus on “youth and young development players”, with the Covid-19 pandemic presenting an extra challenge to that vision.
WHY KEEPING YOUNG TALENT IS EVEN MORE CHALLENGING
Prior to the lockdown, the Western Suburbs Magpies sat in second place while the Tigers Jersey Flegg side was undefeated.
The key to sustaining a healthy salary cap is to have a flourishing junior development program with young players performing above their pay packet and staying for less.
While so much has been made of established NRL stars turning the Tigers down, there equally needs to be an emphasis on identifying emerging talent to keep away from rival clubs.
Israel Ogden and Etuale Junior Lui Toeava are two of those promising prospects.
The pair’s manager, Dixon McIver, said Maguire has personally told him last week he would like to keep both but a move to Queensland could also be on the cards.
“Madge’s words to me were: ‘We have put a lot of work into those boys and we would like to see that come to fruition’ but it comes down to them being in the right place to do that too,” he told
foxsports.com.au.
He said Maguire “cares a lot about grassroots players” but the constant movement of the NRL squad due to the coronavirus pandemic has not helped him “keep his fingers on the pulse”.
Uncertainty surrounding the NSW Cup and junior grades have left McIver exploring the possibility of opportunities in Queensland for the duo.
“We would rather they be somewhere where they are on the dance floor and can be seen more as opposed to sitting twiddling their thumbs,” he added.
“We will definitely be looking at Queensland because they just seem to have their finger on the pulse up there.”
While nothing seems to be changing at Concord, there is one “ray of light” that signals a brighter future at the club.
THE ‘RAY OF LIGHT’ TO BOLSTER MADGE’S CASE
The hope for Tigers fans is that the arrival of Tim Sheens and Brett Kimmorley will help shape junior development in these challenging times.
Meanwhile, Fox League’s James Hooper described Sheens’ appointment as the “one ray of light” in another otherwise dismal season.
“To the point earlier about falling asleep at the wheel in some junior catchment areas, that is Tim Sheens’ forte, that is where he can really excel,” he said on Triple M on Sunday.
“He understands how to set that up, how to get it humming.”
All of which points towards a clear end goal for the Tigers - one that both gives fans hopes and hesitancy to embrace given a lack of consistent results in the past decade.
As much as the next fortnight may look like a write-off, it will be anything but.
Maguire is under just as much pressure as the playing group, with some fighting for new contracts and others answering the leadership challenge set after the Cronulla defeat.
The Tigers’ performance against a struggling Bulldogs side will be the most telling of how far away Maguire’s rebuild is from a finished product.
