Drought breaker: How 'feelings man' Maguire has inspired belief in Blues
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“Madge is a feelings man”.
That’s not a description of Blues coach Michael Maguire that many outsiders would expect to hear but according to Kiwis and Rabbitohs great Issac Luke he inspires belief in his players through passion and leadership.
Maguire, who will attempt to guide NSW to their first win in a series decider at Suncorp Stadium since 2005 on Wednesday night, has an unprecedented record among modern coaches as a drought breaker.
The 50-year-old did it in his first job as a head coach in 2010 at Wigan, who won their first Super League premiership since 1998.
He also did it in his most recent job, steering New Zealand to a record 30-0 defeat of Australia in last year’s Pacific Cup final - their first tournament win since 2014.
And in between, Maguire ensured himself a place in history by helping to the end the longest drought of any NRL club in 2014 when he oversaw South Sydney’s first premiership triumph since 1971.
“I went to another level when Madge coached me,” Luke said. “He helped the way I spoke, and he encouraged me to speak at meetings. He gets the best out of players because he puts everyone on the same level.
“Madge is a feelings man. He pulls on your heart strings and makes you actually realise what you are doing it for and who you are playing for.”
After New Zealand’s 36-18 defeat by the Kangaroos in Melbourne during last year’s Pacific Championships, Maguire invited Luke and fellow Kiwis great Adam Blair to speak to the team ahead of the final.
Luke and Blair, who played 51 Tests for New Zealand, were members of the Kiwis side which won the 2008 World Cup and they also played in the 2014 Four Nations triumph against Australia.
“Madge likes bringing in past players with different experiences and someone who means a lot to the jersey,” Kiwis forward Joseph Tapine said. “He likes to make sure you know who you are playing for and who wore the jersey before you.
“Having ‘Bully’ and Blairy come in was huge for us because we grew up watching them. They have been around for ages and put that jersey in a better place. That’s what our goal was.”
At Souths, Maguire engaged with former greats such as Bob McCarthy, who won grand finals in 1967, 1970 and 1971, and Mario Fenech, who captained the 1989 Rabbitohs to the minor premiership – the club’s most successful team since the glory days, which had yielded 20 premierships.
Maguire did the same at Wigan, and he has invited Steve Mortimer and members of the team he captained to NSW’s first series victory in 1985 into the Blues camp to show the current players what Origin success looks like.
The likes of Mortimer, Wayne Pearce, Peter Wynn, Steve Roach, Noel Cleal and Ben Elias attended a function with the Blues before Origin I and last week the two teams enjoyed a dinner together at the SCG.
“I’ve been coached by a lot of great coaches, but I think Madge has probably got the best pre-game, pre-training, pre-anything, motivational speech and he really gets you up for it,” said Rabbitohs captain and NSW lock Cameron Murray, who was handed his NRL debut by Maguire.
“He is a great speaker, and he is great to listen to. He has got a really good energy about him, a really good vibe, and is a really passionate coach.
“He is very driven and passionate about instilling the culture he wants, and he has got a really cool way of getting everyone on board with the same concepts he is trying to push.
“He is team and player-first, he will do anything to back his players and we all appreciate that about him. It makes us want to make his campaign successful and jump on the back of the culture he wants to drive.
“The best coaches are the ones you never want to let down and we all want to play for him.”
Wigan CEO Kris Radlinski said Maguire thrived in the pressure of big games, and there are few bigger matches than a State of Origin decider in Brisbane.
“Madge is perfect for that sort of environment, he changes culture and drives standards,” Radlinski said. “With the situation that NSW is in, Madge will drive it like crazy.
“Madge will squeeze every single bit of time out of the players and give them as much information as possible. They will be ready to play, there is no doubt about that.”
Tapine played his first Test in 2018 under Maguire at Denver’s Mile High Stadium, when he was rebuilding the Kiwis side after the disappointment of being eliminated by Fiji in a 2017 World Cup quarter-final on home soil.
As he did with Luke and the likes of Sam Burgess, John Sutton and Greg Inglis at the Rabbitohs, Maguire empowered the senior New Zealand players, led by captain James Fisher-Harris, by involving them in decision making and driving the values of the team.
He has done the same with the Blues squad by bringing the likes of Stephen Crichton and Jerome Luai into the leadership group.
“Madge is a coach who leaves no stone unturned, but I felt that during the last couple of years with the Kiwis he put a lot of trust and faith in the boys, especially that last week going into the [Pacific Championships] final,” Tapine said.
“He handed a lot of the leadership over to the older boys like Fish and me, and I think that helped us with belief.
“He always touched on the little things to make sure you do those, but we led a lot of the talks during the week and at our meetings, and that belief was a big thing. When he instils that belief in players, they want to play for him.”
According to Luke, Maguire’s worth ethic and attention to detail are other traits that inspire his players.
Maguire’s daily routine at Souths would begin when he arrived for training at 5.30am to meet the coaching and performance staff to prepare the upcoming session and he wouldn’t leave Redfern until after he had watched the Under 20s team train.
“He’d go home and have time with his family, have dinner and put the kids to bed, and then he’d be straight back on his laptop trying to figure out how we could get better,” Luke said. “I used to check in on him after games and he would be up all night cutting up footage.
“If you have a coach who gives up things like that, you are willing to go to war for him and that’s what I found playing under Madge. He unlocked a lot of what I needed to give for the team.
“I was probably the highest running dummy half in the game, but I learned to pick my right moments and to be able to help the boys get across the advantage line. He added a lot my game.”
Luke said he was disappointed that Maguire had been forced to choose between the Kiwis and Blues coaching jobs but backed his decision to coach NSW.
“I spoke to Madge as he was getting on the plane to go to New Zealand to meet with the board and he didn’t want to let the Kiwis down, but I said to him ‘this is where you belong’,” Luke said. “Once he got home, I rang him and congratulated him.
“When Madge puts his time into you, it is so special that anyone who can have that is going to have a very good coach.
“It’s been a long time since that last dynasty of NSW players, like Andrew Johns, Danny Buderus, Brad Fittler and Anthony Minichiello, but if anyone can change that it is Madge.”
