"Looks nailed on" he says. I just wish they'd get it sorted. If he goes at the end of the year it won't be a big blow, we'll have the best part of six months to prepare for it.

Quote ="Father Ted"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.'" The first we have heard of a two year deal with an option for a third is since this rumour started. When he was signed all we were told is a three year deal and this was not corrected by the club e.g. [urlhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyleague/6268901/Michael-Maguire-to-coach-Wigan-Warriors.html[/url And more importantly from the clubs web site: www.wiganwarriors.com/WContent.a ... &type=news Which actually says in the first sentence: "Wigan Warriors are delighted to announce the appointment of Michael Maguire as their new Head Coach. Michael has signed a three-year Contract with the Club for Seasons 2010, 2011 and 2012. " You can't get much clearer that it was a three year deal when they actually spell each year out.

Quote ="Father Ted"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.'" The first we have heard of a two year deal with an option for a third is since this rumour started. When he was signed all we were told is a three year deal and this was not corrected by the club e.g. [urlhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyleague/6268901/Michael-Maguire-to-coach-Wigan-Warriors.html[/url And more importantly from the clubs web site: www.wiganwarriors.com/WContent.a ... &type=news Which actually says in the first sentence: "Wigan Warriors are delighted to announce the appointment of Michael Maguire as their new Head Coach. Michael has signed a three-year Contract with the Club for Seasons 2010, 2011 and 2012. " You can't get much clearer that it was a three year deal when they actually spell each year out.

But that is entirely what the speculation amounts to, that Madge will duck out of his contract early.



Madge is not remotely at the end of his stint here so there is no comparison. If he was talking to clubs about half way through 2012 that would be fine and as expected but if there is anything in this he has been doing so less than half way through his deal. If that is true it is just as bad as Noble IMO.

If Michael Maguire is contacted by Russell Crowe midway through his Wigan deal, I'm not sure he personally can be blamed. Likewise, I'm not sure he can be blamed if he finds a fabulous offer to go and coach a top side in the NRL so enticing that he doesn't seek a chat with IL and try to find out if he can leave his contract after serving two years out of three.

However, I am starting to suspect that all of this may be at the root of our indifferent form. Especially now that a national journalist has introduced Shaun Edwards into the discussion, it's difficult to imagine that quite a few people won't have their mind on other things when they should be preparing for matches.

Agree entirely. I posted on here a last week that he has a 3 year deal with the club and that I would expect him to honour that. Maguire is integral to our plans, he has led the recruitment and forward planning for a 3 year term. IL has given him the authority to bring in the 3 from melbourne on deals which roughly shadow his own - for him to leave now would be really disruptive.

Wigan have given him a chance to shine as a head coach - and he has excelled, hence the interest in him from the NRL. It cant be right that we end up suffering for our success last year - thats the whole point of securing him on a contract, it (theoretically) ties him to the club - rain, hail or shine.

Contracts are reallly not worth the paper they are written on...IMO.

True, but in contrast our new chairman stuck with the coach he inherited, and at the end of his 4 and a half year tenure, replaced him.

The thing that is confusing me is to why people need to bring up a contract at all.

When it comes to coaches in sport, contracts are almost irrelevant should they decide they want to swap jobs.

IL needs to come out and box this one off as soon as possible. The rumours are gathering by the hour, for once he cant stick his head in the sand.

I personally am very annoyed with Madge, at the end of his deal, I would have held him amoungst the best coaches we ever had, wished him well and moved on, but so soon into the second year leaves me to wonder how long have these talks been going on?

The only difference between what Noble was supposed to have done & what Madge is supposed to have done is Madge plays everything with "no comment" which is pretty much the same thing. All his talk of building a dynasty and being happy as long as we keep moving forward is clearly now just that, talk. The players clearly feel the same and that would easily account for the drop off in form.

Obviously thoughts now have to move to players OOC like Pat, are they now going to be following Madge to Souths and this is why it needs nipping in the bud quickly. This has the potential to really damage our season.

Yes, I know he was always going to go to the NRL and the idea of Wane with a good assistant (possibly Edwards?) is appealing as he has done his time, it doesnt mean im not upset and annoyed at Madge, as he has let everyone down.

I dont see why the panic, MM was always going home as soon as he got an offer, but its not like youve not got a good coach waiting to take over is it?

I am sure good coaches get contacted about various vacancies that crop up but you would expect a coach who has just won a title with Wigan to be the last person who could be tempted to break his contract after so short a time. I think we sell ourselves way short assuming South's are such a big draw. It's clear from the club statement when he signed it was a three year deal not one for two with an option for a third. There may be a get out clause which is very different from an straightforward option but to use such a clause would require the right circumstances to occur and Madge to be in the position to conclude a deal with Souths which can't have happened overnight. It also requires him to want to leave and take a different job and both are extremely disappointing if true.

If it had been clear from the start it was a two plus one option we would have all been urging IL to sign him up for the third year ASAP and would have expected the speculation but none of us had any idea this was a possibility.



I agree and now its reached the UK sports and national press it needs sorting out sooner rather then later.

There could be other factors not acknowledged here.

Maguire moved his family over to Wigan with him. What if they're not happy?

He could have seen there was an opportunity for him to take his family back to their country, and as a father and husband they would come first over his job.

Pure speculation, but to paint him as the villain of the piece is a little naive IMO.

Exactly. It's not just a matter of a better paid job coming along or whatever clubs sign coaches with a plan in mind to achieve long term success. That is certainly why he was signed and as you say recruitment will have been based on what he wants so to get the players signed and the team he wants in place then leave is where the problem lies if this is what happens.



Well if he can get out of it after so short a time it wasn't a very well drafted one!

I think the most important thing for you Wiganers to remember is that, even if he leaves, MM has reminded you of what high standards a big club can/should expect from their team, something that your previous half dozen coaches, Noble included, have failed to do.

Those high standards will permutate through the club and will last after he's gone. If the next coach builds on that, you'll carry on as a top force in the league.

If he is leaving to take up a top job in the NRL as is rumoured it would be naive to think there is anything more too it than that.

All this speculation must be very disruptive to the team/coaching staff, which might explain our indifferent form for the last three weeks as it coincides with when the rumours began. This issue needs addressing officially by the club so that we can draw a line under it & focus on retaining our Super League title and winning the Challenge Cup. The longer this drags on, the more disruptive it becomes.

I doubt it was a two + one year contract. Sporting contracts have all manner of clauses that rightly are private, e.g. footballers being allowed to leave if an offer for £Xm comes in etc. Looks like Madge had a clause re a NRL club coming in for him, that he may not have come in the first place had we not agreed.

Very well said

I see no reason why McGuire won't see out the remainder of this year, even if the players know he is going at the end of the year. The presence of Wane should ensure that he doesn't 'lose the dressing room', as players will want to stay in his plans for the following year.

Hopefully McGuire can continue to teach Wane everything he knows for the rest of the year.

In which case it was a risk that may well have backfired and a poor bit of negotiation from IL given Madge was an assistant coach not an established top NRL coach. He ought not to have been in a position to make such demands given he had no reputation as a first grade coach.

I am sure we were all expecting Madge to build on last seasons success and set things in place for the longer term. One and a bit seasons is not enough for that IMO. If as looks likely he leaves I think both Madge for going and IL and the club for allowing this to happen have let the fans down big time.

Dave, you're being quite judgemental there, and yet have no real basis for it.

We're all in agreement that this is a problem and needs to be sorted one way or the other. But I don't think you should let frustation and disappointment cloud reality.

The argument that Maguire may not have come at all without special opt-out clauses needs to be taken seriously. This is all speculation at present, but you can't simply dismiss the possibility that Maguire didn't want to come over here and needed a deal weighed heavily in his favour. Regardless of whether he was a head coach or an assistant - he clearly is (and was) one of the brightest coaching talents in the game. He was highly recommended to us by Bennett and Bellamy. Russell Crowe hasn't swooped for him purely because he was successful with Wigan. It may well be the case that we did very well indeed to get this guy for any period of time.

It's a big thing to move to a backwater like Britain, where you'll be subject to Kear and Agar type jealousy, and will have chairmen and even journalists tacitly agreeing with them, especially if you've got a young family who you want to grow up the Aussie way. And if you're a top talent on top of that, I'd imagine that it's even more difficult. I seem to remember that IL described lengthy negotiations with Maguire. Maybe he had no choice but to give away more than he wanted, when the alternative was keeping Nobby for another couple of years.

And it's far too early to say IL and MM have let the fans down. In fact it's very churlish. For Heavne's sake, they won us our first Grand Final since 1998!

We gave him his break in rugby league management , we offered him a chance to make a name for himself which he has, to walk out after 16 months is very disappointing. A total shock. IL should offer him double what souths offer tbh, i dont think Wane would make much of a head coach yet, hopefully im wrong though.

Well Warrington Fans Are all over it now on there board !!

I wouldn't say it's panic. The bigger issue here is the rampant speculation from all parts of the media. It has to be distracting to the players if every time they open a newspaper or view anything RL-related online and they see an article saying that the coach at their club is leaving. That's my biggest concern, especially seeing as all these rumours starting has coincided with our recent dip in form

Given Maguire's reputation in Oz before he came and has been proved last season it was a risk worth taking. To trigger the clause he was always going to have to do well (so it was still going to be in Wigan's interests to agree), he just did much better than anyone could have hoped in the first year. Yes it's disappointing but it looks like he'll be here for two years to help hand over the reins to Wane who deserves his chance.

It was obvious he was using Wigan as a stepping stone to get a NRL job, and it looks like he's got a high profile "project" to make his mark. He's ambitious and I'm not going to criticise him for that as I'd have done exactly the same in his position.

Get Real - He has made a bigger pedestal for himself and will return to Aus at the end of his contract - either due to an release clause at the end of this year, or at the end of the 3 year period.

Where is the point in him leaving half way through a season when the Souths coach is not due to go until the end of the season.

As for double his money - Why, an incentive maybe both for him and the team, but to leave as a Double grand Final Winner will raise his stock even higher then he could name his price?

www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sp ... 6038143646 www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/leag ... 1dcp8.html I know IL doesn't comment on rumours but i think its time to talk

www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sp ... 6038143646 www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/leag ... 1dcp8.html I know IL doesn't comment on rumours but i think its time to talk

The intricacies of his contract with the club should not put us in a position were he can walk out 2/3 the way through the agreement. I dont buy the point about us not being able to lure him to come here unless we offered him a range of get out clauses...that is not the sort of contract we should be offering our head coach.

IL appointed him, then let him have the cheque book to go out and shape the team - why would he do that if he was running the risk that madge could up sticks at a moments notice?

I for one will be gutted if he leaves the club. Its typical of our luck...just as we've got things moving in the right direction it all starts to go a bit Pete Tongue!

As unpopular as it may be...I dont believe Shaun Wane is ready for this job yet. Whilst I dont doubt his motivational skills and the aggression he brings to the team...I worry about the tactical side of things.