Paul Kent: Wests Tigers’ rebuild taking shape

[diedpretty]

I don't disagree with the article, I think its on point.

But didn't PK pile on yesterday (on MMM) when he had a rant at the Tigers for their recruiting strategy?

Interesting what a difference a day makes!

He also wrote that we offered Finucane a 4 yr deal that forced the sharks to up their offer - now he says we only offered 2 yrs - i'm beginning to think the club is quietly calling BS on some of the articles being written - some journos heed the advice while others yes you slothfield keep writing rubbish.

 

[Needaname]

The junior development and pathways can continue without Maguire. We need a new coach who brings a new skillset to the Club.

Is that you giving Maguire credit for building in this area?

I have always been happy to acknowledge the good work done by the club in this area.

It doesn't take away from the fact our NRL team has gone backwards under Maguire. Or, that our defence is appalling and has not improved one iota under Maguire. We need a new coach with a new skillset to drive the club forward.

Well I want us to be a team that can be challenged for the title year on year out.
Ie Souths, Manly, Roosters, Storm, and In later years Parra, Raiders and Panthers.

If we have gone as far as you feel with Maguire do you personally feel with or without changes to our roster that we will displace one of the above by coaching personal only within the next 3 years?

Because if you don’t feel that’s possible there’s no point moving on the problem if the next coach can’t do it.

We all want our club to compete in the top 4. We differ on the way it should be gone about.

I believe our roster is better than performances suggest under Maguire. A new face with a different skillset, a new method of communication, better assistants and maybe just maybe a better profile to attract talent is what the club requires.

But your personal opinion is? Do we finish within the top 6 in the next 3 years, with a change of coach?

We will be at the back end of the field while Maguire is coaching WTs.

That is not answering the question!!!!

This is not a bad squad .. seen the motivated efforts in some games this season , should be cemented in the 8 already .A new coach top 8 next year put your bets on . After 3 seasons of failure only the Tigers club would roll into next season with him as coach ! Fluff of the highest order .

I agree with not being a bad squad. But no amount of coaching changes isn’t going to speed them up to be ready.

At this club, you could be right, a new coach, changes the feeling in the place frees the players up and they all rally together to get it done in a season, maybe scrap into the 8 then they drop off, not having been built to have the focus, energy, mentality to sustain that level of performance.
A bit like Newcastle.

But the same coach ensures that the players grow forward, building long term systems that support their growth and encourage them to want to be champions every game they put on the jersey.

Building blocks.

 

[Guest]

The junior development and pathways can continue without Maguire. We need a new coach who brings a new skillset to the Club.

Is that you giving Maguire credit for building in this area?

I have always been happy to acknowledge the good work done by the club in this area.

It doesn't take away from the fact our NRL team has gone backwards under Maguire. Or, that our defence is appalling and has not improved one iota under Maguire. We need a new coach with a new skillset to drive the club forward.

Well I want us to be a team that can be challenged for the title year on year out.
Ie Souths, Manly, Roosters, Storm, and In later years Parra, Raiders and Panthers.

If we have gone as far as you feel with Maguire do you personally feel with or without changes to our roster that we will displace one of the above by coaching personal only within the next 3 years?

Because if you don’t feel that’s possible there’s no point moving on the problem if the next coach can’t do it.

We all want our club to compete in the top 4. We differ on the way it should be gone about.

I believe our roster is better than performances suggest under Maguire. A new face with a different skillset, a new method of communication, better assistants and maybe just maybe a better profile to attract talent is what the club requires.

I think he's let down by the Assistant coaches more than anything else.

 

[diedpretty]

The junior development and pathways can continue without Maguire. We need a new coach who brings a new skillset to the Club.

Did you bother reading the article. One of the points was how we keep just changing coaches as a quick fix. Pretty hard to change ingrained bias.

 

[frullens]

Great article from PK.
We need to stay the course, we have some great young players coming through.
We are turning around the titanic here....

 

[Snake]

The junior development and pathways can continue without Maguire. We need a new coach who brings a new skillset to the Club.

Is that you giving Maguire credit for building in this area?

I have always been happy to acknowledge the good work done by the club in this area.

It doesn't take away from the fact our NRL team has gone backwards under Maguire. Or, that our defence is appalling and has not improved one iota under Maguire. We need a new coach with a new skillset to drive the club forward.

Well I want us to be a team that can be challenged for the title year on year out.
Ie Souths, Manly, Roosters, Storm, and In later years Parra, Raiders and Panthers.

If we have gone as far as you feel with Maguire do you personally feel with or without changes to our roster that we will displace one of the above by coaching personal only within the next 3 years?

Because if you don’t feel that’s possible there’s no point moving on the problem if the next coach can’t do it.

We all want our club to compete in the top 4. We differ on the way it should be gone about.

I believe our roster is better than performances suggest under Maguire. A new face with a different skillset, a new method of communication, better assistants and maybe just maybe a better profile to attract talent is what the club requires.

But your personal opinion is? Do we finish within the top 6 in the next 3 years, with a change of coach?

We will be at the back end of the field while Maguire is coaching WTs.

That is not answering the question!!!!

This is not a bad squad .. seen the motivated efforts in some games this season , should be cemented in the 8 already .A new coach top 8 next year put your bets on . After 3 seasons of failure only the Tigers club would roll into next season with him as coach ! Fluff of the highest order .

I agree with not being a bad squad. But no amount of coaching changes isn’t going to speed them up to be ready.

At this club, you could be right, a new coach, changes the feeling in the place frees the players up and they all rally together to get it done in a season, maybe scrap into the 8 then they drop off, not having been built to have the focus, energy, mentality to sustain that level of performance.
A bit like Newcastle.

But the same coach ensures thato the players grow forward, building long term systems that support their growth and encourage them to want to be champions every game they put on the jersey.

Building blocks.

Looks like the younger up and comers are moving on as

Great article from PK.
We need to stay the course, we have some great young players coming through.
We are turning around the titanic here....

Just read in signings thread one of the good young players have jumped ship .. the penny will drop soon !

 

[earl]

One of the points was how we keep just changing coaches as a quick fix. Pretty hard to change ingrained bias.

It makes the situation worse long term.

We finally aren't getting dud signings. It's partly because we aren't getting any signings but that will turn.

 

[diedpretty]

The junior development and pathways can continue without Maguire. We need a new coach who brings a new skillset to the Club.

Is that you giving Maguire credit for building in this area?

I have always been happy to acknowledge the good work done by the club in this area.

It doesn't take away from the fact our NRL team has gone backwards under Maguire. Or, that our defence is appalling and has not improved one iota under Maguire. We need a new coach with a new skillset to drive the club forward.

Well I want us to be a team that can be challenged for the title year on year out.
Ie Souths, Manly, Roosters, Storm, and In later years Parra, Raiders and Panthers.

If we have gone as far as you feel with Maguire do you personally feel with or without changes to our roster that we will displace one of the above by coaching personal only within the next 3 years?

Because if you don’t feel that’s possible there’s no point moving on the problem if the next coach can’t do it.

We all want our club to compete in the top 4. We differ on the way it should be gone about.

I believe our roster is better than performances suggest under Maguire. A new face with a different skillset, a new method of communication, better assistants and maybe just maybe a better profile to attract talent is what the club requires.

You are delusional about the strength of our roster.

 

[earl]

The junior development and pathways can continue without Maguire. We need a new coach who brings a new skillset to the Club.

Is that you giving Maguire credit for building in this area?

I have always been happy to acknowledge the good work done by the club in this area.

It doesn't take away from the fact our NRL team has gone backwards under Maguire. Or, that our defence is appalling and has not improved one iota under Maguire. We need a new coach with a new skillset to drive the club forward.

Well I want us to be a team that can be challenged for the title year on year out.
Ie Souths, Manly, Roosters, Storm, and In later years Parra, Raiders and Panthers.

If we have gone as far as you feel with Maguire do you personally feel with or without changes to our roster that we will displace one of the above by coaching personal only within the next 3 years?

Because if you don’t feel that’s possible there’s no point moving on the problem if the next coach can’t do it.

We all want our club to compete in the top 4. We differ on the way it should be gone about.

I believe our roster is better than performances suggest under Maguire. A new face with a different skillset, a new method of communication, better assistants and maybe just maybe a better profile to attract talent is what the club requires.

But your personal opinion is? Do we finish within the top 6 in the next 3 years, with a change of coach?

We will be at the back end of the field while Maguire is coaching WTs.

That is not answering the question!!!!

This is not a bad squad .. seen the motivated efforts in some games this season , should be cemented in the 8 already .A new coach top 8 next year put your bets on . After 3 seasons of failure only the Tigers club would roll into next season with him as coach ! Fluff of the highest order .

I agree with not being a bad squad. But no amount of coaching changes isn’t going to speed them up to be ready.

At this club, you could be right, a new coach, changes the feeling in the place frees the players up and they all rally together to get it done in a season, maybe scrap into the 8 then they drop off, not having been built to have the focus, energy, mentality to sustain that level of performance.
A bit like Newcastle.

But the same coach ensures thato the players grow forward, building long term systems that support their growth and encourage them to want to be champions every game they put on the jersey.

Building blocks.

Looks like the younger up and comers are moving on as

Great article from PK.
We need to stay the course, we have some great young players coming through.
We are turning around the titanic here....

Just read in signings thread one of the good young players have jumped ship .. the penny will drop soon !

Finucane, Inglis, Tino, Cronk are just same of the players that Melbourne have lost.

 

[earl]

The junior development and pathways can continue without Maguire. We need a new coach who brings a new skillset to the Club.

Is that you giving Maguire credit for building in this area?

I have always been happy to acknowledge the good work done by the club in this area.

It doesn't take away from the fact our NRL team has gone backwards under Maguire. Or, that our defence is appalling and has not improved one iota under Maguire. We need a new coach with a new skillset to drive the club forward.

Well I want us to be a team that can be challenged for the title year on year out.
Ie Souths, Manly, Roosters, Storm, and In later years Parra, Raiders and Panthers.

If we have gone as far as you feel with Maguire do you personally feel with or without changes to our roster that we will displace one of the above by coaching personal only within the next 3 years?

Because if you don’t feel that’s possible there’s no point moving on the problem if the next coach can’t do it.

We all want our club to compete in the top 4. We differ on the way it should be gone about.

I believe our roster is better than performances suggest under Maguire. A new face with a different skillset, a new method of communication, better assistants and maybe just maybe a better profile to attract talent is what the club requires.

You are delusional about the strength of our roster.

Our edges are a mess. Our middles and spine are average. Our wings have massive flaws.

We are building decently. Maybe Gildart and Hastings will improve us next season.

 

[Needaname]

The junior development and pathways can continue without Maguire. We need a new coach who brings a new skillset to the Club.

Is that you giving Maguire credit for building in this area?

I have always been happy to acknowledge the good work done by the club in this area.

It doesn't take away from the fact our NRL team has gone backwards under Maguire. Or, that our defence is appalling and has not improved one iota under Maguire. We need a new coach with a new skillset to drive the club forward.

Well I want us to be a team that can be challenged for the title year on year out.
Ie Souths, Manly, Roosters, Storm, and In later years Parra, Raiders and Panthers.

If we have gone as far as you feel with Maguire do you personally feel with or without changes to our roster that we will displace one of the above by coaching personal only within the next 3 years?

Because if you don’t feel that’s possible there’s no point moving on the problem if the next coach can’t do it.

We all want our club to compete in the top 4. We differ on the way it should be gone about.

I believe our roster is better than performances suggest under Maguire. A new face with a different skillset, a new method of communication, better assistants and maybe just maybe a better profile to attract talent is what the club requires.

But your personal opinion is? Do we finish within the top 6 in the next 3 years, with a change of coach?

We will be at the back end of the field while Maguire is coaching WTs.

That is not answering the question!!!!

This is not a bad squad .. seen the motivated efforts in some games this season , should be cemented in the 8 already .A new coach top 8 next year put your bets on . After 3 seasons of failure only the Tigers club would roll into next season with him as coach ! Fluff of the highest order .

I agree with not being a bad squad. But no amount of coaching changes isn’t going to speed them up to be ready.

At this club, you could be right, a new coach, changes the feeling in the place frees the players up and they all rally together to get it done in a season, maybe scrap into the 8 then they drop off, not having been built to have the focus, energy, mentality to sustain that level of performance.
A bit like Newcastle.

But the same coach ensures thato the players grow forward, building long term systems that support their growth and encourage them to want to be champions every game they put on the jersey.

Building blocks.

Looks like the younger up and comers are moving on as

Great article from PK.
We need to stay the course, we have some great young players coming through.
We are turning around the titanic here....

Just read in signings thread one of the good young players have jumped ship .. the penny will drop soon !

I’m not sure what penny needs to drop for you as far as your posts go you’d support a complete death of everything that has west tigers badge and the birth of anything that hasn’t been present or thought up yet.

 

[TYGA]

The article is spot on. Madge will turn this mess around but it’s a rebuild. The draw back with Madge will be top end recruiting there is no shying away from that. I don’t care build it to last. I’ve been banging on about long term rebuild for ages and the message from the club needs to reflect this. Sheens under the current climate and need for pathways is a bigger signing than people realise.

 

[WT2K]

The article is spot on. Madge will turn this mess around but it’s a rebuild. The draw back with Madge will be top end recruiting there is no shying away from that. I don’t care build it to last. I’ve been banging on about long term rebuild for ages and the message from the club needs to reflect this. Sheens under the current climate and need for pathways is a bigger signing than people realise.

I've been going back and forth on where I stand on all this and Tyga basically sums it up for me.

 

[innsaneink]

Paul Kent: Wests Tigers’ rebuild taking shape, if club holds its nerve over Michael Maguire

After finally committing to a way out of a decade-long cycle of failure, Wests Tigers must fight calls that will send them spiralling back into the rugby league abyss, PAUL KENT writes.

Paul Kent
News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom
JULY 26, 20215:20PM

The ammunition against Michael Maguire is overly simplistic, but effective.

It seems to be a campaign driven by out-of-work coaches and their future assistants happy to aggravate the job market.

Little attention is paid to what Maguire is doing to clean up the problem at Wests Tigers, which was always the business someone was going to have to do eventually and which was always going to come with some skin lost, no matter who it was.

And it had to come at some point.

For too long the coaches at Wests spent their salary cap with wild indifference to the problems they were creating; namely, caps can be stretched only so much before they burst.

Too many treated the cap like a Ponzi scheme. Buy now, leave the consequence for whomever comes next.

It happened in the interest of short-term job security.

Maguire arrived in town for the long haul, knowing the problems he was inheriting but, still, as he goes about his business out-of-work coaches and their future assistants, at the cost of a phone call, continue to agitate for change.

The subtext goes that only they can fix the problem, without full disclosure that Maguire has finally turned the club in the right direction.

The problem for too long was that the Tigers’ management was unsure itself what success looked like so, unwittingly, they listened to outside voices, wondering if there was a better way.

So they continued to treat the symptom, not the cause.

The knock on Maguire came again over the weekend.

Dale Finucane signed with Cronulla after the Tigers came in with an 11th hour offer Friday. It was portrayed in some quarters that Finucane knocked back the Tigers to sign with Cronulla because he did not want to play under Maguire at the Tigers.

This happened after Tevita Pangai signed with Canterbury last week despite a bigger offer from the Tigers because, it went again, Pangai did not want to play under Maguire.

If only it were that simple.

There was no four-year deal to the Tigers for Finucane.

The Tigers offered a two-year deal with the third season in their favour.

Their reasoning was simple. The Tigers were only just coming out of a cycle where long-term deals, all well above market value, crippled the club and there was no appetite to begin the cycle again, no matter how good Finucane might be.

The Tigers also quietly dropped off Pangai after running a couple of character checks on him, which uncovered the same reasons the Broncos were happy to release Pangai immediately but declined Melbourne’s request to release Xavier Coates immediately.

What is being refused to be recognised at Wests is the job the club is doing in regard to the salary cap, and finally getting in order, but also the drive to develop elite junior pathways which has for too long been ignored.

Recruitment is essential at every club, and all the very best clubs realise it.

Without good young players coming through clubs are forced to always go to market, and invariably must pay overs to recruit outside talent.

Wests have done this for far too long.

Development allows clubs to grow from within, and always offers several good years where young players are cheap at the price.

The Tigers dropped off their development many years ago when the club suffered a critical lack of nerve and the coaches, and here it probably began in the final years of Tim Sheens’ tenure, saw no choice but to coach for the immediate future to guarantee their job security.

So they kept going for the sugar hits, the quick fixes, and it came at the cost of long-term development.

All the good clubs realise now the benefit of strong, and honest, junior programs.

Penrith has long been regarded as the junior template, but it took five or six frustrating years to get this current squad in the shape it is in now, which can win a premiership.

Manly has got its pathways in order in recent years and is showing the benefits this season. The Sea Eagles were widely criticised when they scouted wide, recruiting Blacktown as its feeder club, but the emergence of a stack of young stars this season has shown the intelligence in that decision.

The Roosters often get criticised for failing to develop their own but this is an old stereotype, the Roosters having long taken over the Central Coast juniors and poured plenty of effort into them.

Their success came on the back of Boyd Cordner, Jake Friend, Latrell Mitchell, and many others, which continues today, being contracted at young ages so they could be coached in the Roosters way of football, through the important years of their development.

Then, when it was time for the icing, the Roosters signed James Tedesco and Cooper Cronk to finish off their list.

Melbourne began with a similar model all the way back in Craig Bellamy’s early years and now reap the annual benefits of maintaining discipline and control of their cap.

So much the Storm were comfortable to offer Finucane under market price, which was really more a symbolic gesture more than a genuine attempt to retain him, because the club was in control of its salary cap and already has somebody trained to replace him.

This has long been the Storm way, comfortable losing one at the top because they already have identified the next young one coming through.

Cameron Smith goes out, Harry Grant is ready to step in. Billy Slater retires, Ryan Papenhuyzen steps in.

It is the natural order until clubs bend their salary cap out of shape.

It is a lesson the Tigers are also finally disciplining themselves to adhere to, despite the outside noise.

Already rivals have recognised the early shoots of development, which will only strengthen now the Tigers are exercising discipline, which will be stronger again next year.

The way forward is north.

Kent is so spot on once again. I don’t understand what the hate for this bloke is

Paul Kent understands rugby league very well, the issue with him is he often goes on unhinged tangents which can last months. He had a hate-boner for Cameron Smith. He wrote a million articles about why delaying his retirement announcement was bad for the game. He's had a go at just about every set of fans at one stage or another. It leaves a sour taste in people's mouths. Eventually they forget why they dislike him.

A quick example of how well he understands league: in 2018, we won 5 of our first 6 games. At that point he said we would miss the eight. The reasoning was that our defensive style was unsustainable. Our players would heavily fatigue as the season went on and scores would eventually blow out.

Plenty of us here said the same thing eh @happy_tiger

 

[dazza65]

Wow, good article, I need a minute……

 

[Liam G]

Finally an analysis of the current issues facing Wests Tigers from a journalist which is based on facts and an understanding of the problems, not the bile and prejudice of self interested headline grabbing hacks from News Corp. Those pushing the case of alternative coaches in waiting need only to look at the track record of those individual's disregard for laws and well being of their players. Maguire is doing a good job in difficult circumstances and he deserves to be supported by club officials, players and supporters.

 

[davey_farrell]

Paul Kent: Wests Tigers’ rebuild taking shape, if club holds its nerve over Michael Maguire

After finally committing to a way out of a decade-long cycle of failure, Wests Tigers must fight calls that will send them spiralling back into the rugby league abyss, PAUL KENT writes.

Paul Kent
News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom
JULY 26, 20215:20PM

The ammunition against Michael Maguire is overly simplistic, but effective.

It seems to be a campaign driven by out-of-work coaches and their future assistants happy to aggravate the job market.

Little attention is paid to what Maguire is doing to clean up the problem at Wests Tigers, which was always the business someone was going to have to do eventually and which was always going to come with some skin lost, no matter who it was.

And it had to come at some point.

For too long the coaches at Wests spent their salary cap with wild indifference to the problems they were creating; namely, caps can be stretched only so much before they burst.

Too many treated the cap like a Ponzi scheme. Buy now, leave the consequence for whomever comes next.

It happened in the interest of short-term job security.

Maguire arrived in town for the long haul, knowing the problems he was inheriting but, still, as he goes about his business out-of-work coaches and their future assistants, at the cost of a phone call, continue to agitate for change.

The subtext goes that only they can fix the problem, without full disclosure that Maguire has finally turned the club in the right direction.

The problem for too long was that the Tigers’ management was unsure itself what success looked like so, unwittingly, they listened to outside voices, wondering if there was a better way.

So they continued to treat the symptom, not the cause.

The knock on Maguire came again over the weekend.

Dale Finucane signed with Cronulla after the Tigers came in with an 11th hour offer Friday. It was portrayed in some quarters that Finucane knocked back the Tigers to sign with Cronulla because he did not want to play under Maguire at the Tigers.

This happened after Tevita Pangai signed with Canterbury last week despite a bigger offer from the Tigers because, it went again, Pangai did not want to play under Maguire.

If only it were that simple.

There was no four-year deal to the Tigers for Finucane.

The Tigers offered a two-year deal with the third season in their favour.

Their reasoning was simple. The Tigers were only just coming out of a cycle where long-term deals, all well above market value, crippled the club and there was no appetite to begin the cycle again, no matter how good Finucane might be.

The Tigers also quietly dropped off Pangai after running a couple of character checks on him, which uncovered the same reasons the Broncos were happy to release Pangai immediately but declined Melbourne’s request to release Xavier Coates immediately.

What is being refused to be recognised at Wests is the job the club is doing in regard to the salary cap, and finally getting in order, but also the drive to develop elite junior pathways which has for too long been ignored.

Recruitment is essential at every club, and all the very best clubs realise it.

Without good young players coming through clubs are forced to always go to market, and invariably must pay overs to recruit outside talent.

Wests have done this for far too long.

Development allows clubs to grow from within, and always offers several good years where young players are cheap at the price.

The Tigers dropped off their development many years ago when the club suffered a critical lack of nerve and the coaches, and here it probably began in the final years of Tim Sheens’ tenure, saw no choice but to coach for the immediate future to guarantee their job security.

So they kept going for the sugar hits, the quick fixes, and it came at the cost of long-term development.

All the good clubs realise now the benefit of strong, and honest, junior programs.

Penrith has long been regarded as the junior template, but it took five or six frustrating years to get this current squad in the shape it is in now, which can win a premiership.

Manly has got its pathways in order in recent years and is showing the benefits this season. The Sea Eagles were widely criticised when they scouted wide, recruiting Blacktown as its feeder club, but the emergence of a stack of young stars this season has shown the intelligence in that decision.

The Roosters often get criticised for failing to develop their own but this is an old stereotype, the Roosters having long taken over the Central Coast juniors and poured plenty of effort into them.

Their success came on the back of Boyd Cordner, Jake Friend, Latrell Mitchell, and many others, which continues today, being contracted at young ages so they could be coached in the Roosters way of football, through the important years of their development.

Then, when it was time for the icing, the Roosters signed James Tedesco and Cooper Cronk to finish off their list.

Melbourne began with a similar model all the way back in Craig Bellamy’s early years and now reap the annual benefits of maintaining discipline and control of their cap.

So much the Storm were comfortable to offer Finucane under market price, which was really more a symbolic gesture more than a genuine attempt to retain him, because the club was in control of its salary cap and already has somebody trained to replace him.

This has long been the Storm way, comfortable losing one at the top because they already have identified the next young one coming through.

Cameron Smith goes out, Harry Grant is ready to step in. Billy Slater retires, Ryan Papenhuyzen steps in.

It is the natural order until clubs bend their salary cap out of shape.

It is a lesson the Tigers are also finally disciplining themselves to adhere to, despite the outside noise.

Already rivals have recognised the early shoots of development, which will only strengthen now the Tigers are exercising discipline, which will be stronger again next year.

The way forward is north.

Kent is so spot on once again. I don’t understand what the hate for this bloke is

I love Kenty, i agree with everything he says, ive said it before but i honestly believe he has a soft spot for the Tigers and Madge

 

[GNR4LIFE]

Jeez it’s war of the words from the 3 headed flog that is Kent, Hooper and Buzz 😂

3 dislikes on this shows what a joke this forum is. If the journo talks good things about us, he’s a good guy. If he doesn’t, it’s gutter journalism. A forum full of Donald Trumps.

 

[StarswithStripes]

Good to read an article that has some objectivity. Counters some of the other rubbish articles circulating. What PK says make sense and I’m glad we are taking the approach we are if that’s the truth.

 

[tigerap]

Paul Kent: Wests Tigers’ rebuild taking shape, if club holds its nerve over Michael Maguire

After finally committing to a way out of a decade-long cycle of failure, Wests Tigers must fight calls that will send them spiralling back into the rugby league abyss, PAUL KENT writes.

Paul Kent
News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom
JULY 26, 20215:20PM

The ammunition against Michael Maguire is overly simplistic, but effective.

It seems to be a campaign driven by out-of-work coaches and their future assistants happy to aggravate the job market.

Little attention is paid to what Maguire is doing to clean up the problem at Wests Tigers, which was always the business someone was going to have to do eventually and which was always going to come with some skin lost, no matter who it was.

And it had to come at some point.

For too long the coaches at Wests spent their salary cap with wild indifference to the problems they were creating; namely, caps can be stretched only so much before they burst.

Too many treated the cap like a Ponzi scheme. Buy now, leave the consequence for whomever comes next.

It happened in the interest of short-term job security.

Maguire arrived in town for the long haul, knowing the problems he was inheriting but, still, as he goes about his business out-of-work coaches and their future assistants, at the cost of a phone call, continue to agitate for change.

The subtext goes that only they can fix the problem, without full disclosure that Maguire has finally turned the club in the right direction.

The problem for too long was that the Tigers’ management was unsure itself what success looked like so, unwittingly, they listened to outside voices, wondering if there was a better way.

So they continued to treat the symptom, not the cause.

The knock on Maguire came again over the weekend.

Dale Finucane signed with Cronulla after the Tigers came in with an 11th hour offer Friday. It was portrayed in some quarters that Finucane knocked back the Tigers to sign with Cronulla because he did not want to play under Maguire at the Tigers.

This happened after Tevita Pangai signed with Canterbury last week despite a bigger offer from the Tigers because, it went again, Pangai did not want to play under Maguire.

If only it were that simple.

There was no four-year deal to the Tigers for Finucane.

The Tigers offered a two-year deal with the third season in their favour.

Their reasoning was simple. The Tigers were only just coming out of a cycle where long-term deals, all well above market value, crippled the club and there was no appetite to begin the cycle again, no matter how good Finucane might be.

The Tigers also quietly dropped off Pangai after running a couple of character checks on him, which uncovered the same reasons the Broncos were happy to release Pangai immediately but declined Melbourne’s request to release Xavier Coates immediately.

What is being refused to be recognised at Wests is the job the club is doing in regard to the salary cap, and finally getting in order, but also the drive to develop elite junior pathways which has for too long been ignored.

Recruitment is essential at every club, and all the very best clubs realise it.

Without good young players coming through clubs are forced to always go to market, and invariably must pay overs to recruit outside talent.

Wests have done this for far too long.

Development allows clubs to grow from within, and always offers several good years where young players are cheap at the price.

The Tigers dropped off their development many years ago when the club suffered a critical lack of nerve and the coaches, and here it probably began in the final years of Tim Sheens’ tenure, saw no choice but to coach for the immediate future to guarantee their job security.

So they kept going for the sugar hits, the quick fixes, and it came at the cost of long-term development.

All the good clubs realise now the benefit of strong, and honest, junior programs.

Penrith has long been regarded as the junior template, but it took five or six frustrating years to get this current squad in the shape it is in now, which can win a premiership.

Manly has got its pathways in order in recent years and is showing the benefits this season. The Sea Eagles were widely criticised when they scouted wide, recruiting Blacktown as its feeder club, but the emergence of a stack of young stars this season has shown the intelligence in that decision.

The Roosters often get criticised for failing to develop their own but this is an old stereotype, the Roosters having long taken over the Central Coast juniors and poured plenty of effort into them.

Their success came on the back of Boyd Cordner, Jake Friend, Latrell Mitchell, and many others, which continues today, being contracted at young ages so they could be coached in the Roosters way of football, through the important years of their development.

Then, when it was time for the icing, the Roosters signed James Tedesco and Cooper Cronk to finish off their list.

Melbourne began with a similar model all the way back in Craig Bellamy’s early years and now reap the annual benefits of maintaining discipline and control of their cap.

So much the Storm were comfortable to offer Finucane under market price, which was really more a symbolic gesture more than a genuine attempt to retain him, because the club was in control of its salary cap and already has somebody trained to replace him.

This has long been the Storm way, comfortable losing one at the top because they already have identified the next young one coming through.

Cameron Smith goes out, Harry Grant is ready to step in. Billy Slater retires, Ryan Papenhuyzen steps in.

It is the natural order until clubs bend their salary cap out of shape.

It is a lesson the Tigers are also finally disciplining themselves to adhere to, despite the outside noise.

Already rivals have recognised the early shoots of development, which will only strengthen now the Tigers are exercising discipline, which will be stronger again next year.

The way forward is north.

I like Paul Kent, he seems to be the ONLY journalist who doesn’t have an agenda against the club