By Scott Bailey in Sydney
MICHAEL Maguire is set to replace Brad Fittler as NSW State of Origin coach after being offered a one-year deal to take over the Blues from 2024.
The premiership-winning coach is yet to put pen to paper on a deal, but AAP has been told he has spoken to the NSW Rugby League (NSWRL) board and is expected to take up the offer.
Currently serving as New Zealand’s Test coach and an assistant with Canberra, Maguire’s future in those roles will need to be determined.
It is understood Canberra have given Maguire their blessing to take on the NSW job, although it remains to be seen if he would stay on with the Raiders.
In April, he signed an extension to remain coach of the Kiwis through to the end of 2025.
New Zealand Rugby League refused to comment on Thursday about Maguire’s future, with any decision unlikely until after the Pacific Championships finish next month.
Maguire could theoretically coach NSW and New Zealand as their seasons do not overlap, with the Blues’ offer running for five months from March to July.
It could create challenges around player eligibility, though, with NSW representatives ineligible to play for New Zealand.
Maguire had expressed his interest in becoming NSW coach in 2018, but lost out to Fittler.
Fittler won three of his six series in charge, before walking away from the job late last month while off-contract and under intense pressure following a disappointing 2023 Origin series.
Laurie Daley and John Cartwright were other candidates. It remains to be seen if they will find a place on Maguire’s staff.
Canberra coach Ricky Stuart was also an option, before deciding it would be difficult to balance both jobs.
Maguire has coached 233 games in the NRL, winning a premiership with South Sydney in 2014 before taking over at the Wests Tigers in 2019.
When he was axed by the struggling joint-venture midway through last year there were fears his time as a head coach was over.
But there is a belief Maguire’s reputation as an intense mentor will suit the State of Origin arena, where camps come in short, sharp bursts.
NSWRL officials are hopeful Maguire will formalise a deal in the near future, but there are potential hold ups with the 49-year-old in New Zealand on duty with the Kiwis.
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![Teacher Vanessa Jones has been living in Higgins since 2001, and while she loves the area, she says she is “fed up” with the neglectful ACT government.
The Higgins shops have been completely abandoned, says Vanessa, preventing the opportunity for residents to have a community-centred space to socialise.
They only received bins nine months ago, she says, and requests for a water station and repairs to the bus station have gone unanswered.
“It’s very, very slow,” says Vanessa.
“I asked for the zebra crossing on Fullagar [Crescent] to be repainted, and we had to wait about six or nine months.
“That’s just such a long time… we pay a lot of rates.”
Vanessa says assistance from the government only seems to go to communities with time-rich and assertive communities, leaving places such as Higgins, where the majority of households have both adults working full-time and English may not be the first language of the family, at an automatic disadvantage.
“If you’ve got two people working, paying a mortgage, raising two or three kids, they don’t have the time,” says Vanessa.
Vanessa says the lack of attention quieter places such as Higgins is receiving is starting to look a lot like favouritism.
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