Rugby league guru Phil Gould believes Wests Tigers coach Michael Maguire has fallen victim to a media witch-hunt following the club’s disastrous end to the season.
Finishing the season 13th on the NRL ladder with just eight wins, the Tigers’ woes this year were laid bare after going down to wooden spooners the Bulldogs, in a 38-0 thrashing last week.
Following the loss, pressure on Maguire went up a notch with reports by the Sydney Morning Herald suggesting the coach could be axed.
Since joining the Tigers in 2019, who haven’t played finals football since 2011, Maguire has notched 26 wins and 41 losses, making for a 39 per cent win percentage.
While plenty of criticism has been directed at the club its roster moves made before Maguire joined the Tigers, Gould believes the “heightened” media scrutiny has landed the coach with more pressure than what he deserves.
“I don’t think so,” he told Wide World of Sports’ Six Tackles With Gus when asked if parting ways with Maguire would fix the Tigers’ issues.
“I think the club has to come to terms with what it is and that sounds strange because they’ve been a joint venture for a long time. They probably think they’ve been on the right course but that’s proven to be a bit of a misjudgement.
“I know Michael Maguire and how hard he works, how passionate he is… do I think their performances reflect his coaching ability? No, I don’t.
“We tend to point the finger at the coach rather than the players.
“I think roster management has needed to be a lot better than what it’s been, but that started a number of years ago. Michael Maguire inherited an unenviable situation when he first went there.
“They’ve been beaten 38-0 by the team (Bulldogs) running last, and they did have a number of NRL players out… of course that’s heightened all the talk.
“In the media these days, if a media organisation writes a column that gets enough clicks on the website, then they must follow it up. If it gets clicks the next day, they must follow it up again to the point by the third day, they’re just making stuff up to get it in the papers.
“The Wests Tigers have certainly been in the media since that loss and the pressure has built on the club and coach.”
Gould revealed following the Tigers’ loss to the Bulldogs last the weekend, that he spoke to Maguire and club CEO Justin Pascoe.
Based on his conversations with the pair, Gould said it appeared as if the club would stick by Maguire despite the mounting criticism directed at the coach.
“My dealings with Michael Maguire and [Tigers CEO] Justin Pascoe, there’s never been any indication they’re going to change the coach. Never been any indication,” Gould added.
“Even after the game on the weekend, I checked in with Michael to see how he’s going and Justin because it was a bad result for them, and I didn’t sense any indication they were going to break ranks.
“I’m not sensing they’re looking for a change of coach, but media pressure can sometimes have pressure within people in the organisation who say, ‘maybe we need to rethink or ask how we get out of this?’
“There are a lot of others at play once the media starts to hone in on the coach, performances and players… if their attention all along was to keep Michael Maguire, they’ve really got to hold their ranks and march through this.”