Like it has been said... Wire fans will say Smith and we will say Madge.

Madge won the league in his first season though, it has taken Smith more than that. The turn around with Madge was instant.

Madge is wanted in the NRL. Smith isn't.

Pointless thread both are top drawer Maguire won stuff with a team that was a mediocre also ran riding on historical reputation and Smith took a bottom 4 side to the playoffs and a CC win. I think it's impossible to really say which is truly better because they're the top 2 coaches in the league right now by some margin and are both superb in different ways.

Madge is slightly ahead for me due to turning what was seemingly a pap team into a winning one overnight. Smith is still top quality though and he will be the best coach in the league by some distance next season when Madge has gone.

Is he part of the Shameless cast?

mcguire has only ever been a first team coach at wigan hasnt he? tony smith impact on teams has been in super league for all to see, he has made huddersfield the team they are today leeds are lost without him they won the grand final numerous times under him and that same team he coached is still there so obviously it must of been smith who led them to the glory they had, now look at us now to 4-5 years ago we was fighting with the teams for the last play of spot most of the time never reaching the play offs and now we are the best team in super league winning 2 challenge cups and imo we are the best in super league we proved that by winning the league well maybe i shouldnt say best cause anybody can beat anybody on the day maybe i should say the most consistent team in super league and that is all down to smiths coaching [uIMO[/u

and simon morans money

Smith won the same number of Super League trophies at Leeds as Brian McLennan. 2.

Like I said. Wigan fans will say Madge, and Wire fans will say Smith.

A pap team, didn't you guys make the GF eliminator the year before.

Being a Wire fan, I know what pap means, we were rooted to the foot of SL when Smith arrived, had struggled to make the playoffs for the two previous seasons. That's what you call 'turning a pap team ..'

Neither is better, they are just two outstanding coaches, I'm just correcting you on 'papness'.

In reality it is too early in Madges coaching career to make a real assessment. That debate should be held for 5 years time, when firstly Smith has had to go through a major rebuilding process with Wire and Madge has had a shot with the NRL's biggest underachievers.

The only criticism I can find against Smith as a coach is his shocking tenure with England.

Good point, IMO, Madge will one day coach Australia, Smith will be lucky to get a job in the NRL (maybe as an assistant).

Smith has been pretty successful with every club he's coached over here. I'd have him at Wigan like a shot, but only once Maguire has gone.

They're easily the best two coaches in the UK.

Madge's impact was very immediate, however, especially as he had no new players to supplement the team with. I think it took Smith a little bit longer to earn recognition.

Very difficult to call, but for me as a Wiganer Madge just edges it.

I think Smith said it all himself a few weeks ago. "If you only want results Im probably not the coach for your rugby club" He recognises sport is in the entertainment industry. If youre only interested in the result, why bother going to a game ? just look in the paper for the final score.

Madge is a typical win at all costs Aussie, he has a killer instinct.
Which you prefer is down to what you personally get from the game.
Personally i like to witness flambouyant rugby and if we win great, if we dont, fine, at least we were entertained, so Smith for me.

Smith was let down by his squad for the England game, like most England coaches from any sport !

I think there is much more to it that the simple question of who is better.

Their approaches could not be more different.

Smith likes to promote attacking rugby, offloads and 'play what you see' flair.

Maguire has nailed his colours to the 'Defence wins games' mast

Both have proven successful and both have won SL grand finals, and challenge cups,

Maguires success is remarkable in the short space of time he has been at Wigan, but you were no where near as bad (culture wise as well as playing staff and results) as we were when Smith took over.

I do agree that Smith will be less sought after in the NRL probably due to their defensive focus, which maybe why he wants to stay here with the more open SL.

What i find intriguing is the contest between two such different approaches.

Interestingly when you beat us in the CC you played more attacking rugby, and when we beat you the other week we played less attacking rugby....hmmm

I think Smith said it all himself a few weeks ago. "If you only want results Im probably not the coach for your rugby club" He recognises sport is in the entertainment industry. If youre only interested in the result, why bother going to a game ? just look in the paper for the final score.

Madge is a typical win at all costs Aussie, he has a killer instinct.
Which you prefer is down to what you personally get from the game.
Personally i like to witness flambouyant rugby and if we win great, if we dont, fine, at least we were entertained, so Smith for me.

Smith was let down by his squad for the England game, like most England coaches from any sport !

I agree about Smith and England, but I don't know where this idea that Wigan don't play entertaining rugby comes from. Non-Wigan fans keep saying it, and it's simply not true.

Wigan have an ‘iron defence’ mode, I agree. But they also score plenty of spectacular tries.

The quarter-final between Wigan and Wire was one of the best Cup games I've seen in ages, and both teams played their part in putting on a great show.

All this talk of Maguire not coaching entertaining rugby is nonsense. I've found it very entertaining and we score plenty of points from some very entertaining set pieces. To say wire are more entertaining completely depends on the individual.

I'd be happy with either coach at Wigan, Maguire would be the first choice though.

I'm sorry, but that argument only stacks up when you're winning games.

If you were throwing the ball about and playing some brilliant rugby, but lost 20 league games and finished 12th then you'd be calling for his head.

Obviously, winning and playing good rugby is the ultimate aim, but we all know that if you offer Wire the Grand Final with 2 playoff wins and the victory at OT with 3x 1-0 scorelines, they'd take it as opposed to losing to Hudds and Leeds whilst playing lovely rugby.

Firstly, a lot of people forget how poor we were in 09' when Smith took over. He had one hell of a task on his hands to pick our squad up off the floor. And I'd like to think we've done some special things since that period of time (2010 playoffs aside).

As for Maguire, well, he is a product from one of the NRL's finest teams and as soon as you announced he was taking the post at Wigan, I knew it was just what you needed to take you that extra step. You'd come close on a couple of occasions under Noble, but you were like the foundations of a building - just needed that bit of steel.

So taking these things into account, I'd say that both coaches are reasonably even in my opinion.

Lets not forget that Madge has cheated his way to his vicories and Smith encourages open flowing beautiful rugby

I'd imagine centralparkforever, sorry warrior1973 is pretty Despondent that the thread seems to be going along sensible lines so far. Keep it up everyone.

I see what you did there

To be fair. England did win their first series in a long time when he was coach. Although we were shocking in the world cup I'd have him back as England coach tomorrow.

both competely different styles of coach. i wish we could keep Madge as coach for the next 10 years b ut id be equally as happy with Smith as coach

its 50/50 for me

both do an excellent job and have brought a much needed boost to our competition

Well that's it then. Wigan fans think it's Maguire, Wire fans think it's Smith, but we're all agreed they are the two best coaches in SL. What a shocker, Wigan and Wire fans agree on something.

when smith came to wire we were dead last you have to put that into considerdartion he won the cup in his first season which was our first for over 30 years took us from 10th to 3rd and a cup in his second now he has finished 1st when maguire came wigan were finishing around 4th anyway but you cant call between the two like the roby vs monaghan debate we will never get the answer

Madge brought a team that was winning nothing to win some of the gretaest titles and that was with a team that had won nothing for the past 'few' years, there were no new signings so it obviously shows madge can bring the best out of any player.