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Opinion
The Blues are in dire straits after two straight Origin series defeats, Brad Fittler walking out the door and no NRL coach wanting to take on a job which is increasingly becoming a hiding to nothing.
If you win, that is what is expected but if you lose, batten down the hatches for the spitstorm of verbal sprays that will come your way.
With seemingly few options on the table, the NSWRL has offered Michael Maguire a one-year, part-time deal to try to prevent Billy Slater’s marauding Maroons from racking up a hat-trick of shield successes.
This short-term contract is literally the bare minimum Maguire could be offered by the broken Blues powerbrokers.
Should he be thankful it wasn’t a two-game commitment with an option for a third if the series is still alive?
(Photo by George Wood/Getty Images for RLWC)
Past NSW coaches Craig Bellamy and Ricky Stuart were not keen to add Origin duties to their club commitments in 2024, while Laurie Daley expressed lukewarm interest about a return but after going 1-4 in his first five-year stint, there was nothing to suggest he would do any better a second time around.
Broncos assistant coach John Cartwright stuck his hand up and, as a former Blues player with decent NRL head coaching experience at the Titans, he would not have been a bad option but not necessarily an inspiring one.
Geoff Toovey had been tossed up in some circles and he also has merit despite an apparent lack of technical nous from his four-year reign as Manly coach.
The Sea Eagles made the 2013 NRL Grand Final during his tenure and won 61 of their 105 matches so it’s unusual to say the least that he has not since had a look-in elsewhere.
NSW have only had four coaches in Origin history with a record above 50% and they all held similar views to Toovey’s old-school approach of prioritising effort and motivation over tactical acumen – Ron Willey (five wins from seven Origins), Terry Fearnley (the historic 2-1 series win in 1985), Phil Gould’s 14 victories from 24 attempts and Wayne Pearce (five from nine).
With the likes of Nathan Cleary, Isaah Yeo, Cameron Murray and James Tedesco having an established on-field dynamic, the Blues coach does not need to complicate proceedings in the short time the team is in camp with elaborate game plans.
The knock on Maguire has been that he’s a micromanager who wants to control every aspect of his team before, during and after matches.
When you have players under contract as their primary form of employment over the course of a season, it’s an approach which can drag teams to the finals and all the way to trophies, as he did with Wigan and South Sydney.
But it can also wear thin when players are bombarded with intensity on an ongoing basis, as was seen in the finals years of his Rabbitohs stint and throughout his three seasons of underachievement at the Wests Tigers.
For the Blues, their hope is that in a short-term setting like a three-match Origin series, Maguire will be able to inspire the elite stars of the game without getting them offside.
Outgoing NSW Blues coach Brad Fittler. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Players at that level don’t necessarily need coaching but the team needs someone steering the ship in the right direction, getting everyone on the same page or whichever cliche that gets trotted out to describe a unifier of talent.
Maguire’s record as New Zealand’s coach since 2018 has been modest – he has won 10 of 15 Tests, highlighted by a 26-24 upset over the Kangaroos in his second match in charge.
But the Kiwis have lost three times to England, including their series in the UK five years ago, and despite pushing Australia all the way in their showdown, bowed out in the World Cup semi-finals last year.
It appears he’s probably going to be allowed to remain New Zealand coach on top of taking on the NSW gig – only in rugby league could dual eligibility in the representative ranks extend to the clipboard holders.
Maguire, who threw his hat into the NSW ring in 2018 when Fittler was first appointed, appears certain to put pen to paper on the Blues’ offer but with so few other legitimate options on the horizon, you wouldn’t blame him if he tried to hold out for at least a two-year contract.
It’s almost like NSW are hedging their bets by giving him a chance to prove everyone wrong while not being tied down financially to a coach beyond next year.
With Bellamy potentially finally retiring from his Storm role after next season, the Blues look like they’re leaving the door ajar for him to return in 2025.
(Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)
Stuart or Eels coach Brad Arthur are other long-term NRL coaches who look like they’re coming to the end of their time at their current clubs so the Blues could have more options on the table 12 months from now.
Even if Maguire can put all the off-field distractions and speculation aside, the Blues are no guarantee to end the Maroons’ purple patch of the past two years.
They will undoubtedly be the favourites with the bookmakers on an on-paper talent basis but Slater has revived the Queensland spirit following the obliteration the Maroons copped in 2021.
Of the 17 players who will run out for Australia in Townsville against Samoa on Saturday night, 10 of them bleed maroon.
Coaches are masochists and inherent in their make-up is a belief that they can turn any team around but Maguire faces a mammoth task to bring the Blues back to life.