Titans confirm interest
MICHAEL Maguire has rocketed into contention to coach the Titans after Gold Coast hierarchy last night confirmed their interest in the sacked premiership-winning South Sydney mentor.
Maguire was axed by the Rabbitohs on Tuesday despite having two years to run on his contract, thrusting Maroons assistant Anthony Seibold into the box seat to coach Souths.
Maguire now heads the list of candidates for the vacant TiThe tans post after Queensland coach Kevin Walters withdrew from contention to continue his stint in the Origin hot-seat.
The Titans have assembled a committee to appoint Neil Henry’s successor.
“Michael is a premiershipwinning coach, so of course he’d be worthy of consideration if he was interested,” chief executive Graham Annesley said.
Maguire, 43, spent six years at the helm of South Sydney, assuming the reins in 2012 and snapping the club’s 43-year premiership drought in 2014.
Rabbitohs finished seventh in 2015 and have missed the finals in the past two seasons, prompting South Sydney powerbrokers to go in a different direction.
With the Titans, and possibly Canterbury, on the hunt for a new coach, Rabbitohs hierarchy opted to move swiftly in the hope of securing the highly rated Seibold.
The Gold Coast committee must now decide whether they want to look to a coach sacked by their former club, like Henry was by the Cowboys back in 2013, or invest in someone untested at the NRL level.
“He (Maguire) did a great job at Souths,” said league legend and Titans ambassador Gorden Tallis, an assistant to Maguire during the early years of his Rabbitohs tenure.
“He built a tremendous roster and they were a very disciplined side.
“But they probably need to hear a different voice now.”
One of the new Titans coach’s challenges will be extracting the best from $1.2 million fullback Jarryd Hayne following a lacklustre return to the NRL but Tallis believes that could be easier next year. “The good thing about Hayne is he is playing for a contract,” Tallis said.
“He might get another dream and play good again. He might dream he wants to win an NRL grand final.”
MICHAEL IS A PREMIERSHIP-WINNING COACH, SO OF COURSE HE’D BE WORTHY OF CONSIDERATION ... GRAHAM ANNESLEY