South Sydney Rabbitohs coach Michael Maguire gives a rare interview ahead of the NRL grand final

RELUCTANTLY, South Sydney Rabbitohs coach Michael Maguire has agreed to a rare interview — one that comes with a warning.

South Sydney Rabbitohs v Papua New Guinea at Redfern Oval. Coach Michael Maguire.

RELUCTANTLY, South Sydney coach Michael Maguire has agreed to a rare interview. One that comes with a warning.

“I don’t like talking about myself,’’ says Maguire. It is a potentially awkward trait for a man who has taken the Rabbitohs to their first grand final team in 43 years and is suddenly public property.

In grand final week, as Maguire tries to maintain what normality is possible amid the South Sydney hype, there is a good reason why he might not want to raise his profile. It is the coach’s job to guard against distractions, not create them.

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South Sydney's coach Michael Maguire and his team during a South Sydney Rabbitohs media session and team photograph at Redfern Oval. Picture Gregg Porteous

There is also a conundrum: How can Maguire teach humility — a trait he treasures — to his players if he is seen to stroke his own ego?

Mostly, he doesn’t like to talk about himself because he is a private person.

“It’s just the way I’ve grown up,’’ he says. “I try to coach to my personality, I don’t try to be anyone else. That’s the reason I don’t say too much about myself.’’

But after Maguire ushers you through the cafe at Redfern Oval, the coach reveals more about himself than he might have intended. Not by telling his life story or chronicling his achievements. By discussing the values he believes have taken the Rabbitohs this far.

The word to which Maguire constantly returns is “family’’. The close bonds that have been built between players, coaches, support staff, their families and fans over the past three years.

On match day, and in his public appearances, Maguire can seem gruff, even intimidating. At ease, the
40-year-old has the much friendlier manner you imagine he adopts at a club barbecue talking socially, even paternally, to a player.

“You see them as your own kids and you want them to do well,’’ he says. “There’s lots of ways of bringing that out of them. Caring for each other is one of them, particularly for me as a coach. You watch them grow and they give a lot back if you look after them along the way.’’

Maguire grew up playing rugby union in Canberra before joining the Raiders during their glory days of the early 1990s. He played his first game at 18 but injury cut his career with the Raiders and the Adelaide Rams to just 18 games over seven seasons. He was done at 24.

“I just fell apart,’’ he says ruefully. ‘’My body just didn’t want to play rugby league and every time I got back out I’d fall apart again. It was one of those unfortunate things. But I did a pathway into coaching at an early stage.’’

Michael Maguire for the Adelaide Rams in 1996.

Despite some aching joints, Maguire doesn’t ask his players to do what he will not. Sam Burgess recalls a boot camp in 2012, Maguire’s first season, where the coach completed every drill despite a bung knee.

“They say every brilliant man’s got some madness in him,’’ Burgess says. “I think Madge’s madness was at the army camp. I would rather be anywhere else in the world and he was doing it when he didn’t need to. But the amount of respect he got from the players was unbelievable.’’

Maguire shakes his head when you ask about the camp. “I haven’t been able to run since,” he says. “That was something we all did, my staff included. I’ve got a great staff. Everyone involved is willing to do what is required.’’

Young half Luke Keary remembers Maguire arriving at an altitude camp in Arizona after the players.

“You’re supposed to take it easy the first few days but he was straight into it, doing everything we were doing,” he says. “He is one of the most competitive blokes you’ll meet. He has high expectations for us and high expectations for himself.’’

Like his opposing coach on Sunday Des Hasler, Maguire was a schoolteacher before taking a full-time assistant job under Craig Bellamy at the Storm and winning a Super League grand final as coach of Wigan.

Before the interview he suggests talking about his young players. The teacher in him is clearly proud of the way they have absorbed his, and life’s, lessons.

“It’s one of the things I enjoy most,’’ Maguire says. “It’s great with young kids, but even the senior guys. Seeing John Sutton and what he’s turned himself into and Nathan Merritt. He was very quiet when I first came to the organisation and he’s grown.’’

Even if it is difficult to get good grades, the students at Redfern Oval appreciate Maguire’s ethos of hard work and unity.

Michael Maguire talks to his players during a training session ahead of the 2014 NRL Grand Final at Redfern Oval. Pic Brett Costello

“He’s put a lot of trust and belief in me,’’ says Keary, who at 22 was given the important five-eighth role.

“As much as I’ve had to earn it, he’s given me the chance. His work ethic and his passion for the game, it just oozes through the club and makes you want to perform for him.’’

Maguire smiles just slightly when you tell him of Keary’s praise. Although he doesn’t need to hear the words to know when his message has been received.

“You see that by the way they play,’’ Maguire says.

“The things you ask them to do and to sacrifice and learn. To put up with the coach and all the things that go on. It’s great being part of these kids’ careers.’’

Maguire has three children, two daughters and a son. His down time is spent with them, but also absorbing them into his extended family — the Rabbitohs.

Like Australian cricket coach Darren Lehman, he believes family belong in the sheds. At the same time, players form a special relationship.

“The biggest joy I get from coaching is seeing the camaraderie of teammates,’’ Maguire says. “They grow up together and want to help each other and that’s what we have at the moment, a very tight team that enjoys being together.

“Every day we enjoy training. That’s why the external stuff that’s going on isn’t really a factor because we’re going about our business, the players are taking the mickey out of each other every day.’’

Maguire believes the team’s growth accelerated this season after the disappointment of two preliminary final defeats.

“I’d say the sacrifice we’ve had this year has been greater than what we’ve had in the last couple of years,’’ he says. “That’s because of experience and understanding of what it takes to get this point.’’

Michael Maguire during South Sydney Rabbitohs training session.

Tragically, Maguire was reminded last year that there are some things for which you can’t prepare. He coached during the preliminary final defeat to Manly after learning of his mother’s death on the morning of the game.

It is not something he wants to talk about now.

“I have thoughts and I’ll open up about that one day,’’ he says. “I learnt from that.

“ It was certainly character building.’’

The character of Maguire’s team has been built thoughtfully, even meticulously. The coach might not like to talk about himself. But his character will be evident in the team that runs out on Sunday.

Originally published as South Sydney Rabbitohs coach Michael Maguire gives a rare interview ahead of the NRL grand final