Love or hate Josh McGuire, the Queensland firebrand’s willingness to stand his ground should be respected
One state hates him like poison, the other loves him like a son but one thing is certain about Josh McGuire - he deserves your respect.
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He might be a lunatic and sometimes a grub on the footy field.
But one thing you can’t question Josh McGuire on is his willingness to stand his ground regardless of who he has upset.
And the more NSW fans seem to hate him, the more the North Queensland Cowboys firebrand laps it up.
But while McGuire will never have his own fan club in NSW, it is easy to see why there is a growing yet grudging respect for him in the game.
Because for all his questionable tactics bordering on cheap shots, the one thing he never does is run and hide from anyone.
Whether it be David Klemmer or Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, the mad “Moose” never takes a backward step.
Although not too many people were booing Waerea-Hargreaves in Gosford last Sunday after he went after McGuire with what looked remarkably like a good old fashioned headbutt attempt, in a second-effort after Waerea-Hargreaves had already steamrolled McGuire to the turf.
Of course, the Sydney Roosters enforcer was hit with a dangerous contact charge for his effort but it probably came as no great surprise that Waerea-Hargreaves was also exonerated at the NRL judiciary on Tuesday night.
Waerea-Hargreaves’s defence was that his arms were pinned and that it was an act of self-preservation.
I couldn’t help but laugh, while also wondering if Waerea-Hargreaves would have got off if it was anyone but McGuire on the receiving end?
Waerea-Hargreaves copped a two-match ban recently for a not dissimilar incident that left Kalyn Ponga concussed, though this connection was labelled more of a “tap”.
You can understand how people might think there are rules for some players and rules for others when it comes to fronting the judiciary, although McGuire himself could hardly complain after some of his lucky escapes this year.