Re: MAGUIRE : Wed Aug 03, 2016 9:44 am  

The most interesting effect of Michael Maguire for me was the complete transformation in attitude at the club.

We went overnight from being a bunch of half-assed underachievers, whom Brian Noble coached on a kind of 9-5 basis, to being easily the best team in the competition. And all that with minimal change-around in terms of playing personnel.

Maguire wasn't the kind of coach who went home at teatime. For him, 'getting along' and 'making do' were never good enough. It was all about 100% effort and total concentration on winning. And if the tactics by which this was achieved made for a boring spectacle, so be it - in any case, I've always said there's nothing actually quite as boring as losing every important game you play (whereas Madge won most of his).

At present, the Wigan team is crammed with people who are woefully short on disciplilne (like Lockers, Farrell and Joel), who lack some key skills (like Sarginson and, I'm sorry to say, Matty) or who phone in their performances when they can be bothered (like Mossop and Crosby). Madge, who is a harsh disciplinarian, would sort much of that out, either by bollocking the offenders until they got their act together or by dropping them.

It may be that he hasn't been a roaring success in Australia because all these aspects of coaching are already widely employed in the NRL. But they certainly aren't here.

I'd re-employ Michael Maguire in a heartbeat. It only took him one close season to find an iron core in our team which made it look as if we were about to embark on a new age of conquest. Given the current low standards in SL, I'd be amazed if he couldn't do something similar again.

Re: MAGUIRE : Wed Aug 03, 2016 12:10 pm  

Cruncher wrote:

The most interesting effect of Michael Maguire for me was the complete transformation in attitude at the club.

We went overnight from being a bunch of half-assed underachievers, whom Brian Noble coached on a kind of 9-5 basis, to being easily the best team in the competition. And all that with minimal change-around in terms of playing personnel.

Maguire wasn't the kind of coach who went home at teatime. For him, 'getting along' and 'making do' were never good enough. It was all about 100% effort and total concentration on winning. And if the tactics by which this was achieved made for a boring spectacle, so be it - in any case, I've always said there's nothing actually quite as boring as losing every important game you play (whereas Madge won most of his).

At present, the Wigan team is crammed with people who are woefully short on disciplilne (like Lockers, Farrell and Joel), who lack some key skills (like Sarginson and, I'm sorry to say, Matty) or who phone in their performances when they can be bothered (like Mossop and Crosby). Madge, who is a harsh disciplinarian, would sort much of that out, either by bollocking the offenders until they got their act together or by dropping them.

It may be that he hasn't been a roaring success in Australia because all these aspects of coaching are already widely employed in the NRL. But they certainly aren't here.

I'd re-employ Michael Maguire in a heartbeat. It only took him one close season to find an iron core in our team which made it look as if we were about to embark on a new age of conquest. Given the current low standards in SL, I'd be amazed if he couldn't do something similar again.

It was the small things that we did so well under Maguire that we miss. Our kick chase was better, our line speed was better, our passing accuracy was better and so on. I used to like how he got the full team to run from anywhere they may be stood on the pitch to celebrate a try with the try scorer. Our general discipline was better. We got pinned for penalties don't get me wrong but we didn't see the petulant push and shove stuff that we do now.

Wane has always spoke about wanting t do things better then Maguire but you can't fix what ain't broke.

Re: MAGUIRE : Wed Aug 03, 2016 12:29 pm  

I watched the Rabbitohs again last night; they really are having a woeful season: even sides that can't otherwise buy a win are filling their boots against them. The sacrifices made to get Sam Burgess back already look to have been not worth it. I have a bad feeling that for both Sams, their best days are behind them. They seem wedded to a dull, knock-em-over style of play ( sound familiar?) and if they come across a side who are bigger bullies than they are (Bulldogs), they have no answers, and likewise if they come across a team with a bit of guile in attack (Wests).

Maguire seems to be struggling to overcome this, at least with the roster he has available.

All that said, it doesn't take away from the points made by Cruncher and NK in their posts up-thread, which I can't disagree with.

Re: MAGUIRE : Wed Aug 03, 2016 1:07 pm  

wigginswarrior wrote:

I don't want Maguire back. It didn't work for John Monie and I don't think it would work for Madge. New broom required!

In Monies first spell they had a huge advantage of being the frist real professional club , pretty much signed any player with any ability and sometimes stuck them on the bench helping Wigan and reducing the quality of the opposition, I dont think many coaches would have failed at wigan in that era, Maquire on the other hand took a seriously poor wigan team and turned them in to champions whilst having the same restrictions of any other club. I cant see any reason why he couldnt repeat that.

Re: MAGUIRE : Wed Aug 03, 2016 1:46 pm  

Bottom line is I think Wane is too close to the players, and his culture/mindset doesn't help the cause? Dominate the oppo by any means, but you've got to know where the line is and stay the right side of it. Do we think that the same players would be giving the same penalties away every game under Madge?
Madge came and didn't worry about upsetting anyone.He also got the whole team working harder than i'd seen in years.
Andrew Johns said something in commentary once about it's not just the players with the ball in their hands who need to work hard, it's more about the players who don't have the ball and how hard they are/aren't working, i.e. ball-runners, dummy-runners. Under Madge, we were so driven and had so many runners in motion, the oppo defence was always on the back foot. Now we don't run hard enough or from deep enough imo.

Re: MAGUIRE : Wed Aug 03, 2016 2:02 pm  

I sometimes used to struggle to keep up with all the players we had in motion under Maguire. We often seemed to have runners all over the field and the opposition could rarely keep up. Compare that to how we play now and its quite depressing

Re: MAGUIRE : Wed Aug 03, 2016 2:49 pm  

[Gareth] wrote:

I sometimes used to struggle to keep up with all the players we had in motion under Maguire. We often seemed to have runners all over the field and the opposition could rarely keep up. Compare that to how we play now and its quite depressing

Agreed. We create zero uncertainty when we attack, especially close to the line. I know the modern game is all about field position, but we seem to be at our least effective inside the opposition's 10m area. The lack of players running off the ball in that position is bad enough, but what's worse is the lack of support play anywhere on the field. George is struggling with aspects of his game this season, especially pass selection - but even when he makes a half-break, he's often made to look daft because there is no second phase at all.

Back on topic - I'm confident Maguire has more tactical nous than Wane and would hugely improve the current squad if he returned.

Re: MAGUIRE : Wed Aug 03, 2016 5:22 pm  

People may point to Souths having a bad season and see that as a slight on Maguire but ultimately they're playing in a tough comp. Of things start to go wrong it must be difficult to turn round when quality teams are being thrown at you week after week.

Over here you always have a winnable game round the corner regardless of the form you're in. We've lost three on the trot buy tomorrow we get chance to play a decimated Wakefield. If we lost that then we've certainly got some issues.

Re: MAGUIRE : Wed Aug 03, 2016 6:20 pm  

As much as i enjoyed our success under Maguire they say you should never go back,he wont be leaving the NRL its just a backwards step coming back to superleague for his career

Re: MAGUIRE : Wed Aug 03, 2016 7:18 pm  

Didn't Shaun Wane sign a 3 year deal end of 2014?
If so then he won't be leaving prior to end of 2017 season.
Should we win a trophy or two by then he won't be leaving then either.

However, should Shaun walk away then if Trent Robinson and Maguire became available I'd have Robinson before Maguire.