When the Brisbane coach takes against the Wests Tigers for the first time since his disastrous spell at the joint venture, Adam Doueihi anticipates it will be personal for Michael Maguire.
On Saturday night, Maguire’s Broncos will play the Tigers in a multicultural round. It has been nearly three years since he was fired from his position at the Tigers after three and a half seasons with a 36% winning record.
Since then, Maguire’s reputation has grown significantly. He went from being a wooden spooner at the Tigers in 2021 to becoming a mentor who won the NSW State of Origin series in 2024 and is currently the Broncos’ manager.
The Tigers had their own reorganization in the years following Maguire in an effort to end a 13-season finals drought.
Since Maguire was fired in June 2022, the Tigers have had about 36 players make their club debuts, 24 of whom are making their NRL debuts
The team is now hardly recognizable from the one Maguire left behind, and with a 2-2 start to the season, it looks like they are turning the turnaround.
Only Alex Seyfarth, Starford To’a, and Alex Twal were part of the Tigers 17 that fell to the Warriors on Sunday.
“A lot has changed since then,” Seyfarth reported after Maguire gave him his NRL debut in 2020.
“There’s been quite a bit of turnaround but looking at this year moving forward, the new boys that are coming in, they’re bringing in good energy every day.”
After being enticed from South Sydney by Maguire, Doueihi anticipated that his previous coach, a well-known and fervent individual, would be particularly affected by Saturday’s match.
“He’ll definitely get his troops up for it, that’s for sure,” one claimed.
“I know what Madge is like, he loves to take things personally sometimes, so I’m sure they’re going to be ready for us when we head up there come Saturday night.”
After missing the Warriors’ game due to a groin injury during the pregame warm-up, Doueihi anticipates playing against the Broncos.
“It’s nothing bad,” the center, who has suffered a miserable string of ailments, stated.
“Our high-performance staff just called to ask them to sit me out. If all goes well, I should return this week.
Players having ancestry from 65 different countries, including Chile, the Philippines, Turkey, and Palau, were included in the NRL’s playing group, according to data released ahead of the multicultural round.
“It’s clear that the NRL represents a wide variety of cultures and countries. Lebanese international Doueihi stated, “It’s pretty cool that they really recognize it and make a round out of it.”
