Re: Former coach Michael Maguire : Mon Apr 26, 2021 10:13 am  

Pie_Eyter wrote:

I think Sam Powell right now is better than any version of what we got from Mcillorum. I don't think Maguire would work again. He did brilliantly for us but got a massive helping hand from being able to bring Finch, Hoffman and Lima over. Our fitness levels now are better than they were under madge imo, we just need to be more destructive in attack. I'm very happy with the direction we are headed in though providing we can replace hastings and French. Silverware required this season though. Want to see us back in the CC Final.

They all came in his 2nd season which was arguably less successful than his first.

Re: Former coach Michael Maguire : Mon Apr 26, 2021 10:25 am  

Grimmy wrote:

Best Wigan coach of the last couple of decades at least IMO. I think a lot of that came from improvements in fitness and wrestling to (legally) slow the tackle. We have those things in place though now, I'm not sure he would be able to come back over and revolutionise us again in the same way.

Completely agree there pal.

When he joined we were knocking about the top but never seriously in contention. That 2010 season was simply incredible. The progression from Noble (who I still believe laid the groundwork for Madge) to unexpectedly in almost all RL fans eyes, win SL and dominate the league that season, was simply incredible.

That therein lies the problem IMO. He’s a coach that turns clubs around. He did it with us and then Souths. We’re not a club that needs turning around but offensive improvement so we can properly dominate games. As such I don’t think he’d be the right fit for us, which is sad as like Grimmy and others I rate him as one of the best coaches, if not the best, of recent times.

That’s without even the look of him. He looks exhausted. Would an exhausted man really want to up sticks back to the UK 10 years after his first foray over here? I doubt it.

It’s a nice thought but he’s not the coach for us IMHO.

Re: Former coach Michael Maguire : Mon Apr 26, 2021 10:28 am  

Fair point. One thing that we have never had since Madge is his no nonsense approach no matter of the player. Martin Gleeson was superb but hot bombed out for disciplinary issues. We all know what that was. Clearly had a few demons at the time but madge just washed his hands of him. In 2021 that would probably be scorned upon because of rehabilitation programmes available etc but since Maguire we had Bateman, Tomkins X2 (the leg break and tomkinsgate) Mullen, Tautai, Hamlin and Hardaker all involved in pretty serious incidents. There was definitely a drop in discipline.

Re: Former coach Michael Maguire : Mon Apr 26, 2021 12:47 pm  

Indeed. In cultural terms Maguire's Wigan seemed more engineered (organised, very structural and data-driven. More policies and less slack) whereas Wane's was very meritocratic, based on commitment and relationships within the club. Naturally because of Wane's history with Wigan but it's interesting how each club reacts differently to the culture a coach tries to bring and how it can either evolve or devolve over time.

Re: Former coach Michael Maguire : Mon Apr 26, 2021 1:55 pm  

Maguire was to some extent lucky with the squads he inherited at Wigan and Souths. There were very talented players on both rostas and a chenge to more intensive training and adopting the tactics that Maguire had learned at Melbourne paid dividends. At Wests there has been a poor recruitment policy for a number of years and some players given big contracts that didnt deserve it.

Re: Former coach Michael Maguire : Mon Apr 26, 2021 4:09 pm  

stpatricks wrote:

Maguire was to some extent lucky with the squads he inherited at Wigan and Souths. There were very talented players on both rostas and a chenge to more intensive training and adopting the tactics that Maguire had learned at Melbourne paid dividends. At Wests there has been a poor recruitment policy for a number of years and some players given big contracts that didnt deserve it.

Going over old ground, but Maguire only added Deacon to Noble's side in his first year and still took us to our first Grand Final win in 12 years. IMO it was more that he got more out of most of his players than Noble did before him. Guys who had been here a long time like Goulding, Fielden, Hansen and J.Tomkins suddenly went from average to good. My favourite Maguire era moment was away at Cas, someone made a break and we had all 12 players in a line backing him up, ahead of any Cas defender. Just summed up our fitness and attitude around that time.

Re: Former coach Michael Maguire : Mon Apr 26, 2021 5:47 pm  

Id have him back in a heartbeat

Re: Former coach Michael Maguire : Mon Apr 26, 2021 6:03 pm  

Grimmy wrote:

Going over old ground, but Maguire only added Deacon to Noble's side in his first year and still took us to our first Grand Final win in 12 years. IMO it was more that he got more out of most of his players than Noble did before him. Guys who had been here a long time like Goulding, Fielden, Hansen and J.Tomkins suddenly went from average to good. My favourite Maguire era moment was away at Cas, someone made a break and we had all 12 players in a line backing him up, ahead of any Cas defender. Just summed up our fitness and attitude around that time.

Deacon was a shrewd signing. We needed both him and Madge at the club at the time as one without the other doesn’t make a Grand Final let alone win it IMO. He was the exact half back we needed.

The fitness of that team was something else, that must have been one gruelling pre season for the lads

Re: Former coach Michael Maguire : Mon Apr 26, 2021 7:24 pm  

Grimmy wrote:

Going over old ground, but Maguire only added Deacon to Noble's side in his first year and still took us to our first Grand Final win in 12 years. IMO it was more that he got more out of most of his players than Noble did before him. Guys who had been here a long time like Goulding, Fielden, Hansen and J.Tomkins suddenly went from average to good. My favourite Maguire era moment was away at Cas, someone made a break and we had all 12 players in a line backing him up, ahead of any Cas defender. Just summed up our fitness and attitude around that time.

couldnt agree more

Re: Former coach Michael Maguire : Mon Apr 26, 2021 7:24 pm  

Pie_Eyter wrote:

I think Sam Powell right now is better than any version of what we got from Mcillorum. I don't think Maguire would work again. He did brilliantly for us but got a massive helping hand from being able to bring Finch, Hoffman and Lima over. Our fitness levels now are better than they were under madge imo, we just need to be more destructive in attack. I'm very happy with the direction we are headed in though providing we can replace hastings and French. Silverware required this season though. Want to see us back in the CC Final.

I disagree but its all opinions, our fitness under madge was a different level and have decreased every season since, except this when they went up from last year