No its not official but it won't do anything to pour water on growing rumours surrounding the club at the moment.

Aspects of this remind me of when Stuart Raper was being linked with Cronulla, before we knew it he was on a plane back to Australia following a home defeat by Widnes (i think).

Personally i would love to see Shaun Wane be given a chance but it must be for the right reasons and not simply down to his chummy relationship with the players - well thats how it appears from what people regularly say about him.

If performances don't imporve over the next few weeks then who knows what might happen - it would not suprise me to see Madge on his way home far sooner than we think.

www.sportinglife.com/rugbyleague ... ml&BID=480 A month ago Maguire said he'd honour his contract, now its 'no comment', hopefully he has no get out clause, for me its too early for Shaun Wane to take over

www.sportinglife.com/rugbyleague ... ml&BID=480 A month ago Maguire said he'd honour his contract, now its 'no comment', hopefully he has no get out clause, for me its too early for Shaun Wane to take over

Seem to remember being pilloried fairly recently for having the temerity to suggest he'd be off before the end of his contract provided he got an offer.

Wigan/SL or Sydney/NRL. Hmmm, toughie.

A highly rated young coach like MM was never going to be in SL longer than 2 seasons. You get stale and fall behind over here compared to working day in day out in the NRL.

The end of the month is the latest.

Sorry, I don't follow?

Maybe im being naive but Maguire has always shown a passion for the club, and talked about building a legacy, i wouldn't have thought he'd consider quitting after 16 months in charge.

Can't see him leaving before the end of this season, no chance IMO.

sorry i meant the rumour is that Madge will leave at the end of this month.

(i certanly don't want that to be true but it would not suprise me given the increasing stories about the Souths position).

Nah, can't see it.

Why ... when the latest, according to Souths fans, is that their current coach will only retire when his contract expires in five months' time.

I think we need to accept that Maguire will go at the end of the year. But expecting him to leave mid-season, when Souths don't need him yet and he'd lose out massively in terms of earnings, is a bit less likely.

Couldn't agree more.

MM will see out the season and could very well leave with 2 SL titles, despite the nonsense about him being "found out" that is being hopefully pedalled on the Saints and Wire boards.

I'm sure he'll do very well at Souths too.

Andy Wilson's now chipped in on the rumours...
[urlhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/apr/12/wigan-warriors-michael-maguire-south-sydney-rabbitohs[/url

Completly agree.

The only possibility (as always) is that theres something we don't know.

Not like him to be delayed in stirring things in relation to Wigan.

Is anyone worried he may be interested in bringing some players over once he goes back. He always goes on about what a brilliant athlete Josh Charnley is and how highly he rates Sean O'Loughlin and Liam Farrell. I just hope he doesn't get any ideas. Thankfully most of our young lads have signed new contracts and those young lads would probably want to make a name for themselves at Wigan first. Just a thought I was thinking with so much money flying around in NRL, contracts could easily be bought out.

www.sportal.com.au/league-news-d ... ire-118424 A source close to the club told Sportal: "It's a done deal. They moved on him as soon as word came through about Bennett." It's understood Maguire has agreed a three-year deal worth around $1m.

www.sportal.com.au/league-news-d ... ire-118424 A source close to the club told Sportal: "It's a done deal. They moved on him as soon as word came through about Bennett." It's understood Maguire has agreed a three-year deal worth around $1m.

I don't wish to sound disloyal, but I'd be surprised if there was anyone outside the Tomkins brothers who would be deemed as exciting prospects in the NRL.

I'm not saying that other players couldn't make a good go of it, but I'm sure Souths have plenty of existing players who are of a comparable standard to Lockers and co.

We were bitterly upset about losing Platt, Betts and Clarke to Aus - it ripped the heart out of our unstoppable pack. But we haven't got anyone in that class at present.

I think Liam Farrell has got all the makings to be a top class player as well as Josh Charnley and plying their trade in the NRL would only accelerate that I feel. Mossop also. Just glad IL signed them all up. Perhaps he was worried about this situation coming up

joke,joke!

Too right it was.

Given I was coaching the most famous RL side in the world, if I'd signed a three year deal I would say no. It's not exactly a bad job is it! This isn't Saints we are talking about here

There are plenty of people who work on short term contracts in all walks of life who honour the contract they sign and they do so because if they don't, their reputation suffers. If we lamely accept that walking out onto a freely entered into agreement is OK the minute a bit more cash hits the table we have hit a pretty poor state of affairs. I remember the first person to break a high profile contract was Iyestin Harris who signed a five year deal at Wire and then when Leeds came sniffing he went into a sulk. He got bucket loads of flak for that at the time from all quarters but these days it seems its acceptable to walk away with complete disregard for your commitment.

It would also mean Madge has been talking to other clubs about leaving a mere 16 months into his deal. That is not the right attitude of a committed coach IMO. Noble was slagged off on this board for talking to other clubs but at least he had an excuse he didn't know where he stood whereas Madge has over half his contract remaining.

Raper's name has been mentioned in this thread and when he did the same thing as is being suggested here he was shown the door and if Madge does the same I would not be disappointed if he left early as you need a committed coach not someone the players think may well be going through the motions while he sees his time out. There is actually a huge difference between honouring your contract and deciding not to renew it compared to leaving early in terms of what it says about you and your commitment.

All that said its about time IL made some sort of statement. After all he once promised to keep the fans informed (no secrets etc) and given all the major newspapers are running with this its about time the fans were put in the picture as its naive to think he doesn't know the score.

Well, definitely looks like he's off. It's just a matter of when and who'll pick up the reins. Is Wane up to the job? Is it better he takes over now, so we get a better idea of what he can do?

That's all very well, but Wigan have sacked more than their fair share of coaches before their contract was up over the years and reputations work both ways.

If Maguire's contract is a two year deal with a third year as option, as stated, then if he goes at the end of this season how come he's supposedly quitting before the end of his contract?
If he does two years he's fulfilled his initial contract.
Andy Wilson's speculation re Giz is interesting.

Also, I don't think we can really quote examples of coaches talking to other clubs as if it's proof that they are somehow dishonourable people. They have to look to their life beyond the next couple of years, and if possible to increase their earnings and their profile. Talking about your future does not necessarily mean that you're about to duck out of a contract mid-way through.

Nobby isn't a good example because he played a very deliberate game - to force IL's hand IMO - wherein he seemed to court newspaper speculation that he was going for interviews and looking for a way out.

As things are, I don't think Michael Maguire has done anything that Graham Lowe didn't do towards the end of his stint at Wigan. Lowey had a job waiting when he announced that he was leaving, so clearly he too had been talking to other clubs while serving as Wigan coach, and no-one thought any the less of him.