NRL 2022: Shane Richardson warns Wests Tigers against dumping coach Michael Maguire
The man who sacked Michael Maguire at South Sydney has warned Wests Tigers against making a “knee-jerk” reaction to the Tigers’ poor start to the season.
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The man who sacked Michael Maguire at South Sydney has warned Wests Tigers against dumping their head coach after just three games working alongside the club’s new director of football, Tim Sheens.
And The Daily Telegraph has been told there aren’t any internal rumblings among club directors about Maguire’s position.
Maguire, though, desperately needs a win against Gold Coast on Thursday night to quiet the constant speculation he will be the first coach dumped in 2022.
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Shane Richardson, then CEO at Souths, ended Maguire’s reign at Redfern on September 5, 2017. Richardson said dismissing Maguire so early in the season would be a “knee-jerk” reaction and fail to solve the club’s issues.
Maguire and Richardson fell out over the coach’s sacking but have since “made peace”.
“There’s no point bringing Tim Sheens in and then pulling the trigger straight away,” Richardson said. “Knee-jerk reactions and applying false pressure don’t help.
“Getting rid of Madge might be an easy sell to fans but the reality is this isn’t about the time they need to give to Madge, it’s the time they need to give Tim Sheens.
“It’s not a matter of putting the pressure on, it’s a matter of taking the pressure off the players and coach and hopefully Tim does that.
“They have to allow Tim time to turn the club around. It takes time to get a squad competitive. You can’t turn things around overnight.
“Tim has been sacked by that club so he has a deep understanding of the pressures on a coach. He will do everything he can to try and help Madge be successful.
“I’m not making excuses for Madge but I know he will be trying his arse off. No one works harder than Madge and no one puts more pressure on themselves than Madge. But I’d rather a coach that puts pressure on himself and worries than a coach who doesn’t give a stuff.
“He is so committed and mentally focused on what he is doing and sometimes that creates a challenge for him. I think, overall, he is handling the pressure a lot better than he did in his last days at Souths.
“People will say I sacked Madge. I worked with Madge for a period of time trying to turn things around and it just became obvious he needed a change as well. To me it did, anyway.
“Tim Sheens can’t wave a magic wand. I hate the word ‘rebuild’ and so do fans but it’s a matter of adjusting the roster and the club itself to assist the head coach. Sheens will make the tough decision if and when he has to. That’s what they’ve brought him for.”
Tigers officials feel, at present, Maguire deserves more time in charge given the club stuck solid with him after an end-of-season review last year. Wests Tigers have started the season with losses to Melbourne, Newcastle and the Warriors.
A round four loss to Gold Coast would already have Wests Tigers in a dogfight to make the finals, an achievement which has eluded the club for the past decade.
The Tigers have eight players unavailable, including key playmakers Jackson Hastings (suspended) and Adam Doueihi (injured).
“I’m hoping Madge can turn it around but whether they’re a top eight team this year … that could be a challenge,” Richardson said. “Sheens and Madge will be putting enough pressure on themselves to win – and the players – without anyone from the outside doing it.
“Patience is a hard word but, at the end of the day, their choices are limited if they don’t show patience. The key to Madge and the Tigers this year is allowing Tim to do the job of restructuring the club and tampering with the roster to make it competitive.
“Sheens will be sitting there knowing what Madge is going through and the pressure he is under. Tim will be looking at the squad and roster and looking at what he needs to do underneath and making relevant changes. That will be the key to Wests Tigers’ turnaround.
“Tim will work out the dressing room, application of players and the coaches’ influence. He will be upfront with Madge. Coaching isn’t easy. It’s definitive. You’re judged on what you do every Sunday. That’s just the way it is.
“People are pre-empting the fact he might lose the next four games. Who knows in rugby league? It only takes one game to turn things around.”
Tiger buries ‘bull****’ Farah-Madge mutiny story
-Fatima Kdouh
Joe Ofahengaue wants to put an end to all the ‘bullshit’ at the Wests Tigers.
The forward was on the bench on Friday night when club great and trainer Robbie Farah supposedly aimed a sideline blow-up at coach Michael Maguire.
On Monday, Ofahengaue fronted the media just to kill off the story and the ‘dogged’ headlines surrounding the joint venture.
“It was passion, I was there so I can tell the story,” Ofahengaue told The Daily Telegraph.
“It happens in every game. People in the blue shirt (Farah) have to get the message out as quick as they can. They only have a certain amount of time, he didn’t want to get the wrong messages out, what Madge was trying to get out.
“It was a miscommunication between Robbie and the person who got the message from Madge. If he [Robbie] stuffs up the call, he gets in trouble. He wanted to get it right. They didn’t want to piss off Madge.
“It wasn’t a spray at Madge, that’s total bullshit. I was right there.
“It is easy to kick us when it’s down. That’s why I’m telling the story so it hopefully it clears everything up and ends the bullshit.”
The latest drama at Concord unfolded after a fan sent an email to 2GB claiming Farah had directed ‘abuse’ at team decisions made by Maguire in the Tigers’ 16-12 loss to the Warriors at Campbelltown Oval.
Farah, a 303-game veteran and Tigers premiership winner, hit back at the allegation and threw his support behind an under fire Maguire.
While Ofahengaue is frustrated at the latest headline aimed at the under pressure club, the 26-year old believes it is the kind of incident that can galvanise the playing group.
“Robbie walked into today [Monday], and we all had a joked about it and gave him a bit of shit over it like ‘what did you say about our coach’,” laughed.
“He laughed about it too. You know, we don’t really read into this stuff.
“The boys are just immune to it now, everyone is just after us.
“It’s important at this stage to stay true to what we want to be, what type of team we want to be and make sure we are true to that.”
Real story about Farah outburst
- Brent Read
Robbie Farah was literally metres from me on Friday night when he is alleged to have combusted in the closing stages of the Wests Tigers’ loss to the Warriors.
Hand on heart, I never heard Farah make a comment about coach Michael Maguire. I never saw him gesticulate to the coaches box. He was angry and animated.
Then again, most people involved with the Tigers were. There was clearly a breakdown in communication and Farah was visibly frustrated.
He had an exchange with another Tigers official, something Farah himself has conceded. At one point, assistant coach Nathan Cayless put his arm around Farah in an attempt to defuse the situation.
But there was no suggestion, at least from where I was sitting while working the sidelines for Triple M, that Farah had turned on Maguire.
These are difficult times for the Tigers. Farah is a club legend and no doubt he feels the frustration as much as anyone. How the Tigers could have done with his smarts out of dummy half in the closing stages on Friday night.
Up against 12 men after the sin-binning of Marcelo Montoya, the Tigers were deplorable. They were directionless. Farah in his role as the blue shirt trainer was powerless and it no doubt contributed to his anger.
Farah loves the club. He has been an outspoken supporter of Maguire. He would be hurting as much as anyone right now. These are troubling times.
It’s no fun in Tigerland. Little things are becoming big things. A few cross words become an explosive argument. Mutiny is apparently in the air but there was no evidence from where I was sitting on Friday night.
Farah was passionate as a player and remains so as a member of the Tigers staff. Would you really want it any other way?
FARAH TEES OFF OVER MAGUIRE OUTBURST ACCUSATIONS
- Fatima Kdouh, David Riccio and David Gavin
Wests Tigers great and trainer Robbie Farah has hit back at accusations that a heated sideline outburst was aimed at coach Michael Maguire during the side’s 16-12 loss to New Zealand on Friday night.
An email sent to the 2GB’s The Continuous Call Team claimed Farah was venting ‘abuse loudly’ to players on the bench about team decisions made by Maguire.
But on Sunday afternoon, Farah took to social media to rubbish the claims made in the email, which supposedly came from a Tigers fan, throwing his support behind Maguire.
“Laughable how the media can make a story from nothing. In the words of @marklevy2gb, “Tigers are an easy punching bag atm (at the moment)”,” Farah tweeted.
“He was true to his word. I am Madge’s #1 fan. Gonna have to try harder than that to tear us apart!! Nothing to see here.”
The email also claimed Tigers defence coach Nathan Cayless had to intervene to calm down Farah.
“It got so bad, Nathan Cayless our defence coach had to summon Robbie over and tell him to calm down, I get it was in the heat of the moment but given the problems with the club at the moment it’s not a good look,” the email said.
Farah confirmed a communication breakdown had occurred at one point in the game over an interchange.
But at no stage was the 303-game veteran having a crack at Maguire in the coach’s box at Campbelltown Oval.
“Haha geez when you’re losing people will try pick at anything. Only thing I can think of is I was blowing up at one of our staff on the sideline cause there was a communication breakdown about an interchange I was supposed to make. Nothing whatsoever to do with the coaches,” Farah told 2GB.
The Tigers failed to kickstart their 2022 campaign against the Warriors on Friday night after another week of headlines surrounding the club’s culture and Maguire’s future at Concord.
Trailing by four points on the scoreboard, the Tigers did not capitalise on an undermanned Warriors outfit when Marcelo Montoya was sent to the sin bin in the 68th minute.
The Tigers were denied a try to backrower Luciano Leilua in the 20th minute, with the scores deadlocked at 6-all, when referee Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski opted not to refer the potential four-pointer to the bunker.
The NRL’s head of football Graham Annesley conceded that Przeklasa-Adamski made the ‘wrong call’ in not sending the possible try to be reviewed by the video referee.
The Tigers will go searching for their first win of the season against the Gold Coast Titans on Thursday in a bid to get their season back on track and relieve pressure off coach Maguire and halfback Luke Brooks.
Wrong call: NRL admits referee blew it on Tigers ‘try’
NRL head of football Graham Annesley has conceded it was “the wrong call” for referee Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski to ignore sending a possible Wests Tigers try to the Bunker.
The refereeing howler prompted Wests Tigers coach Michael Maguire to fume post-match that the call was “ridiculous” and a “game changer.’’
The potential four-pointer came in the first half with the Tigers and Warriors locked at 6-all and could have proved the difference in the Tigers 16-12 loss on Friday night.
The potential try came from a Luke Brooks grubber into the in-goal, which Leilua came desperately close to grounding millimetres inside the dead-ball line.
Inexplicably, Przeklasa-Adamski opted against checking the possible try with the video referee.
After speaking with NRL referees boss Jared Maxwell on Saturday morning, Annesley said the call was “wrong”.
“He (Przeklasa-Adamski) thought he saw it clearly and made a judgment call,’’ Annesley said.
“He didn’t think it was as close as what it ultimately turned out to be.
“He thought he was in a good position, had a clear view of it and made the call.
Seriously that had to be checked. That’s terrible #NRLTigersWarriors
— BUZZ ROTHFIELD (@BuzzRothfield) March 25, 2022
“He was wrong. He should’ve referred the decision, he didn’t refer it and we’ll never know what decision the bunker would’ve made.
“But that doesn’t in any way detract from the fact that it should’ve been referred.
“By no means am I trying to justify it, but he’s only in his third game as a single referee, but the only way people get experience is to bring them into play – much like a player.
“He’s going to learn a pretty hard lesson out of this, a self-inflicted lesson because he’s doing it quite tough this morning, knowing full-well he’s made the wrong call.
“I know that is no consolation to anyone that is a Tigers official, fan or player, but he realises his error.
“No one goes out there trying to make errors.’’
‘IT’S RIDICULOUS’: MAGUIRE BEMUSED BY BUNKER’S NON-REVIEW
Wests Tigers coach Michael Maguire was left perplexed and frustrated at Campbelltown Stadium after what he thought was a try was missed by both the referee and the Bunker on Friday, ultimately costing his winless side.
The disputed try at the 20-minute mark of the first half against New Zealand Warriors, in real time looked to be knocked-on by Luciano Leilua, but the side-on angle, appeared to show fingers applying downward pressure, safely inside the dead ball line.
It would prove crucial with just four points separating the teams at full time, with the Warriors winning 16-12.
“We had our opportunity at the back end, but it changed the mentality within the game and that’s why we have technology to work through those things,” Maguire said post-match. “Obviously, I will have to have another look at it … well, the ball went backwards, looked like a try to me. That’s a game-changer there, right there. It’s scoreboard pressure, the pressures that go on any team.”
As Tigers co-captain James Tamou described post-match, referee Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski kept the game going and the Bunker did not review.
“No explanation no, Ziggy just tried to continue the play of the game, which at some points later in the game was not there,” Tamou said. “He kept pulling up things.”
Confusion reigned supreme.
“I just don’t understand it. I really don’t understand it,” Maguire said. “When we’ve got that much technology in our game that you can’t go back and see it.
“It’s ridiculous really. They’re big moments for team that are going through a period like we are. They’re game-changers.”
His criticism went a step further.
“The medical people seem to pick up things a lot better than what … you saw there,” Maguire said. “Last week (against Newcastle) we had two HIAs, and I get they need to go through the processes and iron them out, but once again technology, in a moment in the game, got us.
“We’ve got people spotting (concussions), and they go back to passages in games, five or six minutes or whatever it was last week (against Newcastle).
“(Then) we have a player taken off and their player stays on, but they can’t check that (disputed try). They’ve got to get them right.”
Another moment later in the game, when Warriors’ Chanel Harris-Tavita stayed down, stopping the game but eventually taken off, added to his frustration.
The Warriors broke their season’s duck with coach Nathan Brown describing it as a “worse” performance than last week’s narrow two-point loss to the Titans, but credited the “defence in the cage,” especially with just 12 men for the majority of the final 11 minutes.
TRYING TIMES FOR TIGERS
The pain continued for Michael Maguire, his Wests Tigers players and their fans against the Warriors.
The Leilua no-call occurred with the game in the balance at 6-6, then the Warriors scored their second try just minutes later. The visitors hung on to win 16-12, in a scrappy affair, surviving the final 10 minutes with just 12 men.
Replacement five-eighth Jock Madden’s 90-metre break looked to put the Tigers’ in front at 16-12, with a little more than 10 minutes remaining, only to be caught by Marcelo Montoya sin-binned for lying on the tackled player too long.
Nervous moments followed for the New Zealand Warriors.
An errant pass just metres from the line by prop Matt Lodge followed by knock-on metres from his own line looked likely to have cost the Warriors with a man down. But the Tigers’ matched them for errors in a panicked finish to the match.
The Tigers failed to complete four sets of six with that one man advantage to remain winless after three rounds.
LEILUA DENIED
After making solid ground to get hands on the ball in the first half, it appeared from side-on that Leilua had applied enough downward pressure with two of his fingers well inside the dead ball line, at 6-all, to at least deserve a review.
It left Leilua and commentators amazed, understandably raising the ire of frustrated Tigers’ fans, in the process.
“I didn’t see any separation there,” Tigers’ legend Steve “Blocker” Roach said on Fox League. “I reckon there was enough downward pressure there.”
Roach and caller Warren Smith, both declared it a try, as play progressed.
“Given how often we refer things to the Bunker, and how close that was, it is stunning it was not referred in the first place,” Smith said.
“The Bunker could have (also) jumped in and said, ‘hey’, just before you restart from the 20, let’s have a look at that, given how many stoppages we have in the game as it stands.”
WARRIORS POST FIRST WIN
The New Zealand Warriors secured that elusive first win of 2022. Both teams were especially scrappy in the second half with the Warriors adding the only two points of that stanza.
Potential 19-year-old super star Reece Walsh was a stand-out including a try-saving tackle on his own line seconds before half-time and an enterprising 50-metre bust only to be stopped by cramp. Walsh finished with 155 run metres and two tackle breaks.
MISTAKES ADD TO BAD LUCK FOR TIGERS
Adding to the bad luck in the first half, 22-year-old Daine Laurie bombed almost certain try midway through the second half.
Laurie failed to even grasp the ball which just needed to be caught and for him to fall over the line next to the posts in all likelihood going 18-16 ahead.
Another 10 metres out from the line with less than four minutes remaining followed.
MAUMALO ADDS TO TIGERS’ CHANGES
The withdrawal of winger and co-captain Ken Maumalo hours before kick-off added to several changes for the Tigers’ clash at home, but could be no excuse for the mistakes late in the contest.
A niggling ankle injury kept Maumalo on the sidelines with new recruit Jackson Hastings, suspended for a dangerous throw last week, and centre James Roberts, who missed the match with a quad injury after his pokies’ controversy in Newcastle.
Maumalo’s withdrawal led to a late reshuffle of the backline moving second rower Luke Garner to the centres, with youngster Jock Madden replacing Hastings at five-eighth.
Originally published as NRL 2022: Shane Richardson warns Wests Tigers against dumping coach Michael Maguire
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