Wests Tigers hope to find the next James Tedesco by rebuilding rugby league at St Gregory’s
As part of Michael Maguire’s roots and all rebuild of the Wests Tigers, the club has made it their mission to revive the rugby league program famous for producing a long line of NRL stars including James Tedesco.
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Wests Tigers are attempting to unearth the next James Tedesco by resurrecting St Gregory’s Campbelltown as rugby league’s greatest school.
As part of Michael Maguire’s roots-and-all rebuild of the club, the Tigers have made it their mission to revive the rugby league program famous for producing a long line of NRL stars.
The nursery that produced the likes of Tedesco, Chris Lawrence, Jack de Belin, Trent Barrett, Jason Taylor, Tim Sheens and even the late Jack Gibson.
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On the week he was linked to the North Queensland Cowboys as Paul Green’s successor, Maguire has not only declared he is at Concord to stay, but revealed his long-term plan to have the Tigers rival Melbourne and the Sydney Roosters as the NRL’s best club.
“I am a big believer in nurturing and building our own,” Maguire said.
“And we have a plan at that includes St Gregory’s Campbelltown.”
Eleven years ago there were genuine fears for the future of the school as a rugby league nursery.
“I want to get that school back to where it was in terms of a rugby league nursery,” Maguire said.
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“It has produced some of the great names in rugby league but has lost its way a little bit. I want it to be the school that every rugby league kid wants to go to again.’’
Maguire said he would not walk out on the Tigers to join the Cowboys and declared his mission to build a premiership-winning team had just begun.
Maguire is contracted to the club until the end of 2021 and will discuss extending his deal at the end of this season.
“I want to build long-term success,” Maguire said.
“Not just short term which coaches can sometimes do. I am not just here for short-term fixes.’’
Maguire’s long-term fix includes rebuilding rugby league at St Gregory’s.
“We are going to work with St Gregory’s to get them to get it back,” Maguire said.
“I want them to be aligned with the Wests Tigers. It’s in our area. We want them to be our school.’’
On the week that the club will celebrate the careers of club greats Benji Marshall and Chris Lawrence, Maguire said the club would produce another homegrown star.
“I am investing in kids,” Maguire said.
“They are the future. We are signing up a lot of the local talent which has probably been something we haven’t been good at. I am talking to 16-year-olds and 18-year-olds. They are the future of the club. I am going to bring the local juniors through.’’
In his second year of a three-year deal, Maguire’s has already put a new steel in the Tigers.
Starting with off-field changes which included extending the club’s high-performance program and increasing coaching staff, Maguire has also improved the club in 11 of 12 key on-field indicators.
While often credited for their defence, statistics also reveal the Tigers are scoring more points, making more run metres, making more tackle busts and making more linebreaks under Maguire.
“The players themselves have no excuses whatsoever not to perform at their best,” Maguire said.
“We have put everything in place for them to succeed. The club itself doesn’t have an excuse not to succeed anymore.”