🐇 Michael Maguire | Rabbitohs Coach #30
Full Name: Michael Maguire
Nickname: Madge
Born: 5/2/1974 at Canberra, ACT
Club Playing Career: Canberra 1991-96 and 1998; Adelaide 1997
Club Coaching Career: Wigan 2010-11 (premiers in 2010); South Sydney 2012-17 (premiers in 2014); Wests Tigers 2019-22; Brisbane 2025
Representative Coaching Career: New Zealand 2018-19 and 2022-23; NSW 2024
Awards and Accolades: Wigan Super League premiership winner (as a Coach) 2010; Super League Coach of the Year 2010; Rabbitohs premiership winner (as a Coach) 2014; RLIF Coach of the Year 2014
Maguire’s family was steeped in the tradition of rugby union, and Michael showed he had plenty of ability in the fifteen-man code when he played for St. Edmond’s College in Canberra, who won the famous Waratah Shield competition in 1991. Maguire’s father even flatly refused to drive his son for his Rugby League trials with the Raiders. Luckily, an obliging next-door neighbor and a Raiders fan volunteered to take him instead and coach Tim Sheens saw enough in him to sign him.
He made his first grade debut in his second year at the Raiders against Manly, in round 17, after coming on from the interchange. ‘Madge’ found it hard to crack first grade at the club because the Raiders had a galaxy of top players in their squad and suffered multiople injuries, and in his seven seasons with the Raiders he played only 11 first grade games, scoring four tries. He also had one season with Adelaide Rams during the Super League war, where he played another five first grade games, scoring a try. He retired as a player at the end of 1998 mainly owing to persistent neck injuries.
Maguire left the game and taught Physical Education before signing up as a Strength and Conditioning coach for Canberra and later becoming their assistant coach in Reserve Grade under Mal Meninga. He was eventually promoted to assistant coach of the Raiders NRL squad alongside Matthew Elliott before leaving the club in 2004 to take the assistant coaching job at Melbourne Storm under his former Raiders teammate, Craig Bellamy.
By 2010, he was ready to take on a role as a head coach, joining Wigan and winning the premiership there in his first attempt, which was their first premiership success in more than a decade. The club followed it up with a Challenge Cup win the following year.
His success in England soon caught the eye of South Sydney who brought him back home as their coach from 2012 onwards. After making the preliminary finals in both 2012 and 2013, they gave hope to so many die-hard fans of the foundation club, but could only look back at those two years as missed chances. Their big chance came in 2014 and after a 43-year wait, the oldest club which had won more premierships than any other, won their 21st premiership in fairytale fashion after defeating Canterbury 30-6 in the grand final.
In a tough and courageous 80 minutes of football the Rabbitohs crafted a new chapter into their Rugby League folklore. There were shades of John Sattler and his broken jaw when Sam Burgess played the entire game with a broken cheekbone and later won the coveted Clive Churchill Medal. It was a victory for the ages, with plenty of Souths players shedding tears after the full siren, along with thousands of their faithful fans who flooded the stadium in a sea of red and green. Later that night players were driven by bus to The Juniors Kingsford for their post grand final celebrations, where more than 10,000 fans outside the club were waiting to greet them. A fan day was also organized at Redfern Oval on the following Monday, and fans came in their thousands to give their appreciation. The mighty Rabbitohs received keys to the city of Randwick before heading on an open-top bus parade through the South Sydney supporters’ heartland, including the beachside suburbs of Maroubra and Coogee, as well as Randwick, Alexandria, Surry Hills and via Redfern to the CBD, where the Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore, presented the Club with the Keys to the City. The great John Sattler later declared: “Souths had the best fans in the competition.”
The Rabbitohs started season 2015 on fire and early on won every trophy on offer, by adding the Auckland Nines trophy and the World Club Challenge to their trophy cabinet, after defeating St. Helens by a record score of 39-0. The club just squeezed into the top eight in seventh spot, before losing to Cronulla in the Finals. They failed to make the semi-finals for the next two seasons and Maguire's tenure as coach came to an end at the end of 2017, despite having two years remaining on his contract.
In 2018, Maguire became the head coach of the New Zealand Kiwis, taking them to the 2021 World Cup semi-finals, and in 2023 they defeated Australia 30-0 in the final of the Pacific Championships.
In 2019 he started his tenure at Wests Tigers, and in his first year they narrowly missed out on the top eight. However, the next three seasons’ results didn’t go their way, and the club terminated his contract on 6 June 2022, with Brett Kimmorley replacing him as interim coach.
Maguire successfully coached the NSW Blues in 2024 to a memorable two-one State of Origin series win, before moving on to coach the Brisbane Broncos.
