Wests Tigers assistant coach: Shane Flanagan snubbed for reserve grade coach
The likes of Shane Flanagan and Simon Woolford are looking for jobs but they are set to be overlooked by Wests Tigers coach Michael Maguire with employment options quickly drying up.
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Wests Tigers coach Michael Maguire is expected to promote within and shun several high-profile candidates in his search for a new assistant.
The Daily Telegraph has learned the Tigers’ Canterbury Cup coach, Wayne Collins, is set to win the race to be Maguire’s assistant at the Concord-based club.
A final decision will be reached next week when Maguire and Tigers chief executive Justin Pascoe return from a week’s leave.
Other speculated candidates include former Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan, Dragons assistant James Shepherd and Huddersfield boss Simon Woolford.
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Maguire is still wrestling with the decision but did combine with Collins to deliver South Sydney their 2014 grand final win.
Collins – nicknamed Snoopy — has spent time in the Souths, Canberra, Penrith and St George Illawarra coaching systems.
He only coached the club’s Canterbury Cup side, Western Suburbs Magpies, in one game this year before COVID shut down the competition.
While aware of the external interest in coaching at Concord, Maguire does have a preference to promote from within.
The Tigers’ vacancy arose after assistant Andrew Webster left the club to join Penrith, replacing Canterbury-bound Trent Barrett.
Another Tigers assistant, former premiership-winning fullback, Brett Hodgson, has been moved along as part of a club overhaul. Shane Millard has been retained as an assistant.
Collins, 53, played more than 100 first grade games for Canberra, St George and South Queensland Crushers between 1988 and 1996. He also played in the 1992 and 1993 grand finals for the Dragons.
Wests haven’t yet appointed a Canterbury Cup coach to replace Collins, given there are no guarantees the competition will even be contested next season through COVID.
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The Tigers’ new centre of excellence is due to be completed before the 2022 pre-season at Concord Oval, which has recently been demolished.
And the playing squad will welcome Panthers skipper and former NSW and Test forward James Tamou and young Parramatta prop Stefano Utoikamanu.
The Tigers haven’t played finals footy since 2011 with management well aware it must reinvigorate the club to find success.
That was never more evident than Maguire’s decision to reject re-signing club legend Benji Marshall for next season.
Flanagan remains without a club for 2021 despite his success as head coach at Cronulla, which culminated in winning the club’s first-ever premiership in 2016.
Woolford will finish his tenure at Huddersfield in a month and will return home in November.
Manly assistant John Cartwright is favourite to be named on Kevin Walters’ coaching staff at Brisbane. Never before in the game’s history has the movement among assistant coaches been so prevalent.
Originally published as Wests Tigers assistant coach: Shane Flanagan snubbed for reserve grade coach