Brad Fittler has come to the defence of coach Michael Maguire, insisting his players must also wear the blame for Wests Tigers’ 2021 failures as noise continues to grow around his tenure in Concord.
The final sorry chapter of the Tigers’ year signed off the regular season on Sunday night as Maguire and his men coughed up seven unanswered tries to fall in a 38-0 bloodbath to wooden-spooners Canterbury.
It was a grim note to wrap the year on and one that gives Tigers fans little faith that next season will be any different.
And why would it?
Despite his plaudits, Maguire hasn’t been able to remedy any of the ongoing issues that have plagued the joint-venture club over the past decade in his three years at Concord.
A season review is now underway after the club again missed out on finals football, finishing 13th with just eight wins to its name.
As part of that review, a decision is expected to be made on Maguire’s tenure at the club, which will undoubtedly be the biggest call made by Tigers powerbrokers this off-season.
But despite the early murmurings of a mutiny, Fittler has issued the Tigers with a swift reality check.
Namely, if not ‘Madge’, then who?
“A lot of people have been speaking about Michael Maguire, but I haven’t heard about anyone else being thrown up to take his spot,” Fittler told Wide World of Sports’ The Final Whistle.
“So, there’s no good getting rid of anyone unless you can find someone who can do a better job.
“There’s obviously going to be a review that’s going to go on. The one thing that’s not in his favour is that there’s been very little improvement to the point where, in their last game, they get beat by Canterbury – the team coming last. That says pretty much the deflation has turned to giving up. That’s not going to help his cause either.
“But unless you’ve got someone who can do a better job then you’re going to go further back.”
While recognising Maguire’s shortcomings in turning the club around, Fittler saw a growing sense of player dissent as arguably the bigger issue dogging the Tigers.
“The problem is, it seems like the players are in control,” Fittler said.
“They’re out there not really having a go and no one is really talking about them being sacked. That becomes a drama because it becomes a lot easier to move one coach and then highlight, ‘You know what players? Now we’ve got rid of the coach and it’s up to you’. Your head is on the chopping block now.
“That’s normally what happens. The players take over, they stop trying, someone gets punted and it sort of starts again.
“Sometimes, when you’re not whole-hearted about everything to do with the club and the team, then it gets found out. And it got found out tonight. They give up.
“That was painful today, really painful. It doesn’t look like the team has improved throughout the year.”
Maguire still has two years to run on his deal at the Tigers.