South Sydney coach Michael Maguire is the right man to lead the club and suggestions to the contrary shouldn’t even be entertained, according to his assistant David Furner.
The pressure is building after Souths slumped to a 3-6 record following last week’s 46-8 hiding at the hands of the Manly Sea Eagles.
The continued absence of superstar Greg Inglis due to a knee injury has robbed the team of one of their most lethal weapons, but it is in defence where the Rabbitohs are struggling the most. Maguire’s side have conceded 225 points in their first nine games: an average of 25
Maguire is a proven coach, having ended the Rabbitohs’ 43-year premiership drought by winning the 2014 NRL premiership. He also led English side Wigan to the 2010 Super League title.
But the Rabbitohs have slid dramatically over the past two years. They finished 12th in 2016 with a 9-13 record and are struggling again this season.
Maguire signed a new contract with Souths at the end of last year, tying him to the club until 2019.
Furner, who linked with the Rabbitohs late last year, was surprised anyone would even question Maguire’s position.
“I wouldn’t even entertain it,” Furner said.
“Look, he’s already proven. He’s won a competition in Super League, he’s won a competition here in Australia in 2014.
“One of the things you’ll see from teams who have that success is (the challenge of) being able to back it up.
“You’ll find that with clubs that have won competitions, the following season or two (the challenge) is trying to keep those players.
“Cronulla are going through it at the moment. It’s tough, because it strips you of success.
“There’s a salary cap. There’s teams coming in and poaching your good players that you’ve actually produced and brought through the ranks.”
The Rabbitohs will be back in action on May 12 when they take on the struggling Wests Tigers at ANZ Stadium before travelling to Perth for a crunch clash with leaders Melbourne.
Furner is adamant his team don’t have an attitude problem despite their leaky defence, but concedes the absence of Inglis to what is likely to be a season-ending injury was hurting the team.
“Yes, GI has been sorely missed,” Furner said.
“He’s a world-class player.
“Last year, a lot of the tries that were scored by Souths, they involved or was around GI.”
3_Hats SSTID 2014
Roar Rookie
He is not Nick Politis, we don't use plastic sheets, we use a boat and cement shoes. lol
Oingo Boingo
Guest
Rusty might invite him to a party soon with plastic sheets layered all over the floor.
Con Scortis
Roar Guru
Isn't this the "kiss of death"? As soon as the coach is publicly backed by either (a) the Club CEO / Chairman; or (b) his support staff, you know he's on borrowed time. All we need is Rusty to come out and publicly back Madge and we'll now he's gonski.
steveng
Roar Rookie
This is where the problem lays '“I wouldn’t even entertain it,” Furner said' telling us about Madge. The roster has to be changed and the sooner its done the better Souths will be off. Madge has to go as he's used by date has expired. There have been to many players let go from Souths that have had success at other clubs and that have depleted our side.
Wascally Wabbit
Guest
Watching most games, our attitude is the biggest problem. Sure, we don't have the best roster in the league, but we should be doing better than we are Some games it looks like our players don't want to be there. Wests Tigers and Manly both outplayed us, but we made them look better than they were. Against the Bronco's we had a go with energy and enthusiasm, tackling in numbers, support play. To me, the biggest question is -- why are our players so up and down? Why did we look lethargic and disinterested in the first game of the season when we should have been ready to rip ? How much of that is due to Maguire?
Hard Yards
Roar Rookie
Dead right Steve. As for GI - well I think his best is behind him these days.
Steve Wilson
Guest
To be quite honest, does anyone really rate players like goodwin, robert jennings,the little nugget in the centres who can't pass the football, burns got a run on the wing and made countless mistakes, now i don't know if clark is maguire's love child, but would not get a first grade appearance at another club. Some very hard decisions need to be made with recruitment at the bunnies. Maguire has to publicly back his players understandably, but internally a brutal assessment of players abilities needs to occur, going forward.