NRL 2022: Michael Maguire head-hunted for high-powered tandem with Ricky Stuart
Sacked Tigers coach Michael Maguire is set to emerge from the wilderness after holding talks to create a high-powered tandem with one of the NRL’s top coaches.
NRL
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Canberra have held talks with Michael Maguire over making a return to the nation’s capital as part of a high-powered tandem with Raiders boss Ricky Stuart.
Maguire spent six years at Canberra over two stints during his playing career before switching to coaching and enjoying premiership success in England and Australia.
He has been out of the NRL since parting ways with the Wests Tigers earlier this year, having used his time away to focus on his duties with New Zealand in the lead-up to the World Cup.
News Corp understands that the Raiders approached Maguire some weeks ago to gauge his interest in working with Stuart, who is on the lookout for two new assistants following the departures of Brett White and Andrew McFadden to the Gold Coast and Warriors respectively.
Stuart and Maguire know each other from their playing days – Stuart was a fixture in the Canberra side during Maguire’s years at the Raiders. They have also locked horns as coaches in the years since, a period in which Maguire led South Sydney to a premiership before enduring some difficult years at the helm of the Tigers.
His time at the Tigers came to an end in June and he has been quietly working in the background since, maintaining his distance from the NRL.
However, the Raiders hope they can convince Maguire to put his desire to be a head coach on hold for at least next season as they look to lure him to the nation’s capital to work alongside Stuart as an assistant.
He would be arguably the most qualified assistant in the NRL, having masterminded premiership wins in both hemispheres.
After leading Wigan to a Super League victory in 2010, he returned to Australia and took South Sydney to their first title in 43 years in 2014.
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