Why Tigers need to stick with Maguire's rebuilding program

The Wests Tigers are hoping Jackson Hastings can have a similar impact to Canberra’s signing of English stars Josh Hodgson and Elliott Whitehead by becoming a circuit breaker for the club’s recruitment ambitions.

After falling short in attempts to sign the likes of Latrell Mitchell and Josh Addo-Carr, the Tigers have been forced to target young talent for their rebuilding program but recent results are testing the patience of the club’s hierarchy.

The worst start to a Tigers season since former Parramatta CEO Denis Fitzgerald predicted in 1999 that “two struggling clubs getting together” would create a “struggling joint venture with no great long term future” has sparked speculation about the future of coach Michael Maguire.

Tigers chairman Lee Hagipantelis and CEO Justin Pascoe refuted a report of crisis meetings that could result in Maguire’s axing after Sunday’s 40-6 thrashing by Manly but did not guarantee he would serve out the remaining two years of his contract.

However, sacking a fifth coach in nine years is unlikely to solve a problem that can be best exemplified by the fact that Hastings, the 2019 Super League Man of Steel, is arguably the club’s biggest signing since Adam Blair in 2012.

Put simply, Concord is not a destination of choice for NRL stars and the Tigers have always struggled to attract big-name players, with their biggest signings being the likes of Jarrod McCracken, Terry Hill, John Hopoate and Owen Craigie in 2000.

In the two decades since, the only real success the Tigers have enjoyed was when Tim Sheens developed a team of talented youngsters headed by Benji Marshall and Robbie Farah into a premiership-winning force in 2005.

Yet it is largely forgotten that Sheens only took charge of the Tigers in 2003 after then St Helens mentor Ian Millward and Broncos assistant coach Craig Bellamy rejected the job following the sacking of Terry Lamb.

Sheens also guided the Tigers to top four finishes in 2010 and 2011 before being sacked a year later and they have not qualified for the finals in the nine seasons since under Mick Potter, Jason Taylor, Ivan Cleary or Maguire.

Worse, the Tigers have been unable to retain home-grown stars James Tedesco, Aaron Woods, Mitchell Moses and Ryan Papenhuyzen in recent seasons because they saw brighter futures at the Roosters, Bulldogs, Eels or Storm.

The good news for Wests Tigers fans is that there now appears to be another crop of talented youngsters coming through the ranks, with the club’s Jersey Flegg team being undefeated and the Wests Magpies NSW Cup side sitting in second place.

However, patience is required as the Tigers have one of the most inexperienced rosters in the NRL as they attempt to rebuild under Maguire by recruiting the likes of Daine Laurie, Adam Doueihi, Luciano Leilua, Stefano Utoikamanu, and Shawn Blore.

All are promising talents but of the Tigers spine Laurie has made just 10 NRL appearances, Doueihi has played six of his 56 matches at five-eighth and injuries have limited hooker Jacob Liddle to 11 games in the past two season.

Teenage hooker Jake Simpkin made his NRL debut two weeks ago, while 2019 Queensland Under 18s team-mate Reece Hoffman received a taste of the top grade last season at centre

Winger Tommy Talau has played 20 NRL matches, Utoikamanu, utility Billy Walters and winger Asu Kepaoa 10 games apiece, prop Tom Amone nine and Blore and fellow second-rower Alex Seyfarth five each.

Former Australian schoolboys five-eighth Jock Madden and centre Zac Cini, NSW Under 18s representative William Kei and Kiwi second-rowers Kelma Tuilagii and Tukimihia Simpkins are waiting for their NRL debuts.

Unblocking the marquee recruit pipeline

Hastings will boost the experience and competitiveness in the playmaking roles next season and Wests Tigers will be hoping his recruitment from Wigan has a similar impact to Canberra’s signing of Hodgson in 2015.

The Raiders were struggling to attract representative stars before luring Hodgson from the Super League and they signed Whitehead a year later followed by their English Test team-mates John Bateman in 2019 and George Williams last season.

The Tigers are in a similar position after being turned down by Mitchell and Addo-Carr in recent seasons and have also had to look to England to sign a representative star, with Hastings returning to the NRL in 2022 on a two-year deal.

After leaving Manly in 2018 following a falling-out with coach Trent Barrett and senior players, Hastings has matured during stints with Salford and Wigan and played four Tests for Great Britain under Wayne Bennett in 2019.

The 25-year-old St George Illawarra junior, who qualifies for England through his grandmother, has featured in the past two Super League grand finals and won the 2019 Man of Steel award as the competition’s player of the year.

Lack of experience bites hard

The signing of Hastings will not impact on the future of halfback Luke Brooks, who along with Maguire has been the main target of criticism after each of the Tigers' six losses in their opening seven matches.

There have been some good performances among the defeats, including last week’s 18-14 loss to South Sydney, and for the first 25 minutes of Sunday’s ANZAC Day clash with Manly the signs were promising.

However, Wests Tigers do not have any players of the calibre or experience of Tom and Jake Trbojevic or Daly Cherry-Evans and the Sea Eagles scored 40 unanswered points after trailing 6-0 until the 29th minute.

Besides Brooks, the only other Tigers players to have played more than than 100 NRL games were captain James Tamou, prop Joe Ofahengaue, centre James Roberts, winger David Nofoaluma and bench utility Moses Mbye.

Ofahengaue and Roberts were signed on cut price deals after being released by Brisbane and Souths respectively, while Mbye has been given permission to find a new club before his contract expires at the end of next season.

With such an inexperienced roster, Tamou was signed this season to provide leadership after being squeezed out of Penrith due to salary cap restraints.

Embattled coach staying focused

Maguire, who led Souths to a premiership in 2014, has spent the first two years of his tenure at Wests Tigers trying to restructure a salary cap weighed down by big-money deals for the likes of Mbye, Josh Reynolds, Russell Packer and Ben Matulino.

Canterbury were in a similar position but new coach Trent Barrett has been able to recruit young stars Kyle Flanagan, Corey Allan and Nick Cotric, with Matt Burton and Addo-Carr joining the Bulldogs next season.

Barrett said after Canterbury’s first win under his coaching last Saturday night that he wouldn’t be “bullied into making rash decisions in who we sign and looking for short-term fixes”.

Despite speculation about his future, Maguire is confident that he has the backing of the Hagipantelis and Pascoe to do the same.

"I have spoken to everyone within the organisation on where we are taking the club," Maguire told SEN on Monday.

"We are very focused on building not only the top but also the underneath.

"We are changing around where the club has been in the past and that has been through the squad itself.

"We have brought in a lot of younger guys, and I have had to let go of some players just to get things balanced out."

NSW Origin hooker Damien Cook, who played under Maguire at Souths, backed his former coach to turn Wests Tigers around.

"You can't be chopping and changing and swapping the coaches every second year," Cook said.

 

The views in this article do not necessarily express the opinions of the NRL, ARL Commission, NRL clubs or state associations.