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| Full name | Michael Maguire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1974-02-05)5 February 1974 (age 51) Canberra,Australian Capital Territory, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Position | Fullback, Wing, Centre | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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As of 6 April 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Michael "Madge" Maguire (born 5 February 1974) is an Australian professionalrugby league football coach and former player who is the head coach of theBrisbane Broncos in theNational Rugby League, whom he coached to victory in the2025 NRL Grand Final. Previously, he coachedNew South Wales andNew Zealand at international level. In the 1990s, Maguire played as afullback, winger andcentre.
After a playing career spent mostly at theCanberra Raiders, with a brief stint with theAdelaide Rams, he became assistant coach ofMelbourne Storm underCraig Bellamy and in 2009 became a head coach in theSuper League with English club theWigan Warriors. He was previously the head coach for theSouth Sydney Rabbitohs and theWests Tigers in theNRL.
In his first year as Wigan Warriors' coach Maguire won the2010 Super League Grand Final.[3] In his second year he won the2011 Challenge Cup and was then signed by the Rabbitohs. In his first year as an NRL head coach he took South Sydney deep into the 2012 finals series. In 2013, Souths finished the regular season in second place and in 2014 they won their first premiership in 43 years.
Maguire was born inCanberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. He attended St Edmund's College.[citation needed]
After initially starting playing inrugby union, Maquire signed forNSWRL club theCanberra Raiders in 1991 and made hisWinfield Cup début for the club off the bench againstManly-Warringah Sea Eagles in a narrow 14–15 loss.
Maguire did not feature again until 1994 when he came off the bench again againstPenrith Panthers. He had a more consistent season the following year, making six appearances in total, most of which he started as either wing or centre. Maguire's first try came as a centre against theParramatta Eels.
In 1997 Maguire left Canberra and signed for the newAdelaide Rams club in the breakawayAustralian Super League competition. He made his début at fullback in the Rams inaugural game against theNorth Queensland Cowboys inTownsville which Adelaide lost 24–16.[4] Maguire also participated in theWorld Club Challenge for the Rams that year. He went on to play four more games for Adelaide and scored one try before returning to Canberra in 1998. Maguire made two appearances for Canberra in 1998 before retiring after persistent neck problems.[citation needed]
When Maguire retired from playing he initially left the game and taughtphysical education before signing as a strength and conditioning coach for Canberra. He later became anassistant coach for the Raiders' reserve grade underMal Meninga. Maguire was eventually promoted to assistant coach of the Canberra first team alongsideMatthew Elliott, before leaving the club in 2004 to take the assistant coaching job atMelbourne Storm under a former Raiders teammate,Craig Bellamy.
Maguire was an integral part in Melbourne's stripped NRL premierships and took control of first team affairs when head coach Bellamy took up representative duties for the Blues inState of Origin. This earned him plaudits from senior coaches in the NRL and Maguire was linked with a move toBrisbane Broncos as head coach in 2008.[5] He was heavily linked with a move to English clubWigan Warriors towards the end of the 2009 season and signed a three-year deal with theSuper League side on 7 October 2009.[6]
Maguire started his Wigan coaching career with a victory against theCrusaders in his first home match of the season. He ended the Halliwell Jones hoodoo (Wigan hadn't won a competitive game away at Wire since they last played at Wilderspool) againstWarrington in a thrilling match which Wigan won 22–20. He wonRLW coach of the month for February. Maguire then recorded his biggest victory as a Wigan coach, beating nearest rivalsSt. Helens in the last everGood Friday derby match atKnowsley Road. He and his assistantShaun Wane helped guide Wigan to theLeague Leaders' Shield in 2010. This was the first time Wigan topped the table in 10 years and marked a trophy winning start to "Madge's" Wigan coaching tenure. Maguire guided Wigan to their firstSuper League Grand Final appearance in seven years as the Wigan club beatLeeds in a semi-final at Headingley by a scoreline of 26–6 on 25 September 2010. Maguire was crowned Coach of the Year 2010 at the annual Super League 'Man of Steel' awards dinner.[7]
Maguire managed the Wigan side to their first Super League Grand Final win in over 10 years beating their arch rivals in the2010 Super League Grand Final victory overSt. Helens atOld Trafford.[8][9][10]
The following February his Wigan side took on2010 NRL premiersSt. George Illawarra Dragons in the2011 World Club Challenge but were defeated. In 2011 Maguire announced his resignation from Wigan, in order to replace the retiringJohn Lang as head coach ofNational Rugby League club theSouth Sydney Rabbitohs for the2012 NRL season.[11]
Maguire coached Wigan to the2011 Challenge Cup Final victory over theLeeds Rhinos atWembley Stadium.[12][13][14][15]
Maguire joined theSouth Sydney Rabbitohs in October 2011, after the end of theNRL and Super League seasons. He had signed a contract with the club earlier in the year, to replace the retiring John Lang.[16] The Rabbitohs performed well during the2012 NRL season with Maguire credited for the successful move ofGreg Inglis from centre tofull-back. The team progressed to within one game of the2012 NRL Grand Final. The following year, Maguire guided Souths to within one game of the2013 NRL Grand Final but the club were defeated 30–20 byManly-Warringah in the preliminary final.[17]
In the2014 NRL season, Souths were tipped to be winners of the minor premiership, along with theSydney Roosters andManly-Warringah Sea Eagles. The first finals round saw Souths defeat Manly, then facing the Roosters in the preliminary final. Unlike the last round of the ordinary season, Souths overcome an early 12–0 deficit to score 32 unanswered points, eventually winning the match 32–22. Under Maguire's coaching this was the first time since 1971 that South Sydney had reached a grand final. Souths defeated theCanterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 30–6 in the2014 NRL Grand Final, securing their 21st premiership and their first since1971. In September 2017, Maguire was terminated as coach of South Sydney despite having two years remaining on his contract.[18]
On 28 October 2018, Maguire was announced as Head coach ofWests Tigers for the next three years. In his first year in charge of theWests Tigers, Maguire guided the club to a ninth-place finish narrowly missing out on the finals.[19]
In round 4 of the2020 NRL season, Wests lost 28–23 to the struggling Gold Coast side giving them their first win in 364 days. In the post match press conference, Maguire spoke to the media saying “I'm sick and tired of the ups and downs of the performances. We need to change that. That's what this club has been, I didn't want to say that, but it's the truth. and the truth is we need to fix how we do things when we are performing".[20]
During the half-time interval in round 12 of the2020 NRL season, Maguire was seen on a dressing room camera berating his players for their poor first half performance against theNew Zealand Warriors. Maguire was then seen kicking a chair across the room.[21]
At the end of his second year in charge of theWests Tigers, the club finished a disappointing 11th on the table and missed out on the finals. Wests were also one of only five teams to concede over 500 points in the2020 NRL season.[22]
In the2021 NRL season, Maguire guided theWests Tigers to a disappointing 13th placed finish on the table including a 38-0 loss againstWooden Spoon side Canterbury in the last round. After the season had concluded, Maguire's position as head coach came under intense scrutiny but on 21 September 2021, theWests Tigers board declared that Maguire would continue as head coach in 2022.[23][24]
On 6 June 2022, Wests Tigers announced Maguire had been terminated as head coach with the club sitting 13th on the table. He was replaced by interim coachBrett Kimmorley.[25]
In 2018, Maguire became head coach of the New Zealand national rugby league team. Maguire took New Zealand to the semi-final of the2021 Rugby League World Cup where they lost against Australia. On 4 November 2023, Maguire coached New Zealand to the Pacific Championships trophy upsetting Australia 30-0 in the final. New Zealand had won just one game against the Kangaroos in the previous nine outings, with a run of three-straight losses including an 18-point drubbing just a week earlier. In December 2023, Maguire signed a contract to become New South Wales head coach starting in 2024. It was reported that Maguire had been given an ultimatum by the New Zealand rugby league board to either stay solely with them or his contract would be terminated.[26][27]
In November 2023, Maguire was appointed coach of New South Wales.[28][29] There was much optimism heading into the first match of the series but this changed whenJoseph Sua'ali'i was sent off in the 8th minute[30] for a high tackle onReece Walsh. New South Wales lost 38-10, recording their biggest defeat in Sydney. In the aftermath, some of Maguire's decisions came under fire, particularly his decision to limit play time of captainJake Trbojevic. New South Wales would go on to win game two of the series in emphatic fashion defeating Queensland 38-18 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, leading 34-0 at half time in a dominant display. In game three, Maguire guided New South Wales to a 14-4 victory over Queensland to win the series. It was the first time since 2005 that a New South Wales team had won a deciding game in Brisbane[31] and Maguire was praised for his tactics, leading to immediate speculation he would return to full-time NRL coaching if given the opportunity.
On 1 October 2024, Maguire was appointed coach of the Brisbane Broncos.[32] on a three year contract ending in 2027. The Brisbane club finished first in the2025 NRL Pre-season Challenge played in February, prior to the commencement of the regular2025 NRL season in March.
At the end of the2025 NRL season, the Brisbane side secured fourth place on the ladder after defeating theMelbourne 30–14 in Round 27 atSuncorp Stadium.[33]
Maguire completed one of the great rugby league coaching journeys when he led the Brisbane Broncos to a dramatic 26–22 victory over Melbourne in the2025 NRL Grand Final, ending the club’s 19-year premiership drought.[34][35]
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