That's the man. I did have Penrith popping in my head but couldn't quite remember the details of Clarkes article.

If Wigan ever did decide to go in a different direction I'd expect he'd be the type of coach they'd look at. His rep seams similar to that which Maguire had all those years back.

Not too difficult to fall foul of the mods there either....

Oh it is. I can't remember the last time anyone was banned over there though certain posters get told off on a regular basis!

Surely if the opportunity to sign a recent NRL GF winning coach was presented we'd have to seriously consider making an appointment.
I think it would be an oversight to think Madge hasn't developed his coaching further since his stint in the NRL.
I'm also sure he'd still have lots to offer our club, many of which would be once again refreshing and new.

He and Souths are going through a bad time currently, but that suddenly doesn't make him a bad coach.
If I remember rightly Wayne Bennett was having a bad time at Newcastle Knights, Broncos still appointed him knowing he's not suddenly lost it.

If available; has to be considered.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

He could if he gets sacked.

I know we have only had three coaches under his ownership but Ian Lenegan seems more likely to let a coach run down their contract than wield the axe. That isn't a criticism just an observation. He seems to take a more measured approach particularly as we were making semi finals regularly under Noble and regularly make finals under Wane (though our record in those could be better). IIRC Lenegan has also stated that making a final, not necessarily winning it, was what he required to be happy with the performance of the coach. Were we not to make the GF this year then Wane may be shown the exit (or his position may at least be discussed). Lenegan and the board may take our position (top 4 and cup SF) compared to the fall of Huddersfield and Leeds this season into account even should we not make the GF. Were our position swapped with theirs then the axe probably would fall but unless we fail to reach the GF we will have done better than last year despite our well documented problems in attack. That is hardly a reason to sack the coach. Insisting that he use an attacking coach as an assistant from next season to fix our issues would be more likely.

Regarding the 3 year deal Father Ted was wondering about, if he did sign a 3 year deal I would expect it would have been after the 2013 season and the double rather than after losing both trophies in 2014. That would just make more sense. In which case the 3 years would end after this season. Should it be the case that his contract comes to an end after this season then should we fail to make the GF it could well be goodbye. If it runs beyond that then I would expect him to stay in post though he may have to win trophies not just compete for them in 2017 to stay longer.

He and Lockers signed new contracts before the 2014 GF as already posted. Both 3 year deals until the end of 2017.

Maguire got Souths to win the comp for the first time in decades. That was a massive achievement, and was made possible by the fact that Sam Burgess decided to leave at the end of the year and played with a ferocity at the end of that year which has seldom been seen. He also had George firing, Luke at hooker and the small matter of Inglis in top form at full back.

Since then Souths seem to have reverted to the dour style they were playing the year before they won the comp. Getting Sam back has cost them at least two other quality players (McQueen and Walker at least, possibly Luke as well), Inglis is seemingly in terminal decline and the great hope at 6 Keary looks more and more like Russell Crowe got it right about him in the off-season.

From what little anyone knows it does seem as though Maguire's big on discipline and regimentation, which doesn't sit well with everyone. But he's also clearly struggling with a very unbalanced squad which to be competitive needed Sam Burgess 2014 vintage and Inglis to be a gamebreaker. Neither has happened, although I think there's more chance we'll see a revitalised Sam than Inglis (plus a fit George).

FWIW I still think Maguire would be a winning coach in SL. But I much prefer watching Trent Robinson's Roosters.

I prefer watching almost anyone in preference to Souths, except the hopeless Dragons and Knights. They are dull, dull, dull.

I don't want MM back. I think we need a change, someone different with new ideas, not a continuation of the previous 7 years although some of those have been very good years.

A few have mentioned Trent Robinson. If he were available I'm sure there would be a long queue for his signature.

My preference would be to look for the next MM, an assistant from the NRL looking to prove himself with Wane moving upstairs.

Madge ain't coming back. They're going to have a clearout of players and he's going to be given chance to start afresh. If Wane was shown the door I think Powell or an ambitious number two at one of the Australian clubs would get the gig. Personally, I'd pull out all the stops to get Craig Bellamy, but not sure how up for it he'd be...

Quote ="Trainman"I don't want MM back. I think we need a change, someone different with new ideas, not a continuation of the previous 7 years although some of those have been very good years. A few have mentioned Trent Robinson. If he were available I'm sure there would be a long queue for his signature. My preference would be to look for the next MM, an assistant from the NRL looking to prove himself with Wane moving upstairs.'" You'd be best trying for someone like Garth Brennan or the Walker brothers. Brennan has done great things with one of Penrith's teams (reserves or u20s), the Walker bros coach Ipswich Jets in the QLD Cup and have an absolutely fascinating coaching philosophy that would be perfectly suited to Super League IMO. How likely either option would be to come here I'm not sure. Garth Brennan - www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/garth-b ... 595ebe91de Walker bros - www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 49addffb7c

Quote ="Trainman"I don't want MM back. I think we need a change, someone different with new ideas, not a continuation of the previous 7 years although some of those have been very good years. A few have mentioned Trent Robinson. If he were available I'm sure there would be a long queue for his signature. My preference would be to look for the next MM, an assistant from the NRL looking to prove himself with Wane moving upstairs.'" You'd be best trying for someone like Garth Brennan or the Walker brothers. Brennan has done great things with one of Penrith's teams (reserves or u20s), the Walker bros coach Ipswich Jets in the QLD Cup and have an absolutely fascinating coaching philosophy that would be perfectly suited to Super League IMO. How likely either option would be to come here I'm not sure. Garth Brennan - www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/garth-b ... 595ebe91de Walker bros - www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 49addffb7c

The fact if we get to the GF and lose it that statistically we will have done better than last year because we got further in the cup cannot be used as something to save Wane's bacon. This would be fine example of the old adage "There are lies, damned lies and statistics". It is obvious to everyone except perhaps Wane we are going backwards despite a cup semi final and a chance of a GF place. What state Leeds and Hudds are in is irrelevant. Anyway on actual league wins I'd be surprised if we were not worse this year than last. The home record is certainly dire in comparison.

We used to regularly get similar stats thrown out defending Noble. "Look we got to a semi final" was the defence ignoring the dour RL and ultimate lack of success. He paid for it eventually but as you said when his contract was run down. It may be history is repeating itself on that score but if it is, IL is playing with fire. People are really fed up with the dross on the pitch and only those with blind loyalty will see a GF place as sufficient to ignore this seasons failings.

If we do get to the GF it will be to the credit of the players, not Wane. They have pulled games out of the hat on numerous occasions despite poor tactics and the fact Wane is clearly clueless as to how to fix the attack. For this reason, whatever we get out of this season [ueven a GF win[/u, Wane needs to go. If he doesn't we will have a repeat performance in 2017 and will be staggering from one win to the next again hoping everyone else is as bad as they have been this season (which is not that likely IMO) so we don't end up in the middle 8's.

Is Frank Endacott Maguire agent if so say no more ?????????????

Or the old adage "Players win games, coaches lose them"!!!!!!