Day of the long knives: Two NRL coaches sent packing on the same day
Michael Maguire has been sacked as Wests Tigers coach. – the second NRL coach to be dumped in the space of 24 hours.
The NRL club informed Maguire on Tuesday his three-and-a-half-year tenure was over, after winning just three of their first 12 games.
Brett Kimmorley will take over on an interim basis.
Maguireās sacking came just hours after the New Zealand Warriors announced the departure of coach Nathan Brown.
Maguireās exit comes after he only narrowly held onto his job at the end of last season. Ā But a second review in the space of nine months was enough to end his tenure, with the club now on the look out for a full-time replacement.
āWests Tigers sincerely thanks Michael for all his hard work and effort over the past three and a half years,ā the club said in a statement.
Former Warriors coach Tony Kemp has warned the club faces an uphill battle to attract a new coach after Nathan Brown became the fifth mentor in 10 years to leave the club.
Brownās tenure as coach was terminated early on Tuesday morning, following a meeting in the aftermath of the clubās fifth straight loss.
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New Zealand great Stacey Jones has been appointed on an interim basis, having only taken up the assistantās role at the end of last season.
Brown had been contracted at the Warriors until the end of next year, but had already told officials he did not want to move back to New Zealand long-term and could not commit beyond that.
Ultimately though, the clubās poor start to 2022 and Saturday nightās horror outing against Manly meant officials decided to move immediately.
āWe fully appreciate his position and the call he has made,ā CEO Cameron George said.
āGiven those circumstances we agreed we needed to make an immediate change.ā
The decision leaves Brownās career at a crossroads, having previously coached both St George Illawarra and Newcastle in the NRL.
Brown becomes the second coach to go in the NRL this year, after Trent Barrettās exit from Canterbury last month.
Wests Tigers coach Michael Maguire also remains in the firing line, with the joint-ventureās mid-season probe pushed back a week due to an ill Tim Sheens.
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If he is axed by the Tigers, Maguire could potentially loom as an option for the Warriors given he currently has the Kiwis job.
Tonga coach Kristian Woolf would be another genuine contender, while Cameron Ciraldo and Jason Ryles are considered the next coaches in waiting as NRL assistants.
The likes of Shane Flanagan and Paul Green are also hoping to get back into the coaching game.
Whether any of that group would choose to take charge of the Warriors is another story.
The Warriors have now gone through five full-time coaches in the past 10 years, while Todd Payten also spent the best part of a season in charge in an interim role before knocking them back for North Queensland.
They have also endured a bad run ahead of next yearās move back to New Zealand after COVID, with Matt Lodge, Euan Aitken and Kodi Nikorima all exiting the club.
āIt looks like we have a structure that people donāt want to be associated with,ā former coach Kemp told radio station SEN.
āIt comes on the back of a number of things.
āIt shows there is a weak underbelly at the club currently and the people who run the club need to sort it out.ā
Kemp claimed the club needed change at the top, with owner Mark Robinson taking a backward step.
āIf he doesnāt step out of what is going on at the moment, I canāt see a coach of any calibre saying I am going to come and set something up,ā Kemp said.
āThatās just not going to work.
āOur average coach gets a couple of years to rebuild it all again, and try and get some success in the club.ā
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