Maguire notes ex-player’s weighty concerns

SOUTH Sydney coach Michael Maguire says he will discuss game plan and player weight criticisms from former Rabbitohs prop Mark Carroll with the man himself.

Carroll raised his concerns on Tuesday about the side’s lacklustre performance, starting with the Burgess twins.

He said Tom and George Burgess needed to drop their playing weight – currently at 120kg each – over the summer to reinvigorate their NRL careers.

“Personally, I wish they’d get down in size a bit. I reckon they should get down to about 115,” Carroll said at Fox League’s Retro Round launch in Sydney.

“They’re just massive humans. They don’t have to do weights and they’d still keep weight on. But the game these days is about pace, mobility, working on the inside.”

Carroll said while Maguire was “a fabulous coach”, his current roster needed an overhaul, and his playing style should be adjusted to the upCOWBOYS tempo game plans in vogue across the league because “attack-wise, Souths are poor”.

Maguire returned the friendly fire from the former NSW and Australian representative on Wednesday.

“I think everyone has their opinion and I have a lot of respect for Mark too but we do that internally and I’ll talk to him about those sorts of different things,” he said of the proposed clean-out.

“I’m very open with a lot of our great players that have played at the club. I think that, over time, is a part of what any club goes through but we’ll review where we are and continually make changes where needed.”

As for any players needing to shed a few kilograms, Maguire seemed unfazed.

“I don’t know where I could probably get kilos off them,” he said.

THE GAME THESE DAYS IS ABOUT PACE, MOBILITY, WORKING ON THE INSIDE