BY DAN

The Michael Maguire era is over it seems.

Despite his insistence it won’t be dealt with until after this weekend’s Pacific Championships Final, all reports are that Madge will be coaching New South Wales next year. That means, per the Canberra Times, that we won’t be coaching at the Raiders next year. What’s good for the goose is also good for the assistant goose it seems.

One might be somewhat ambivalent to this outcome. While Madge is a respected coach who’s had plenty of success, his time with the Raiders was too short to have a profound impact. He was in charge of Canberra defence that went backward under his watch, with little evidence of structural or individual improvement. Good defences do not leak 26 points a game. That it was 19 a year prior with almost no personnel change is hardly a selling point.

Obviously that wasn’t all on Madge. So many of the defensive issues were baked in by a head coach who made personnel changes that made less sense than your local anti-vaxxer. How do you make a good defence without an every-game experienced fullback? How do you make a robust repellent when your edges are stacked with players pushing their bodies longer than they were meant to, and your backups are suffering injury of varying severity? When your middles are only winning contact most of the time?

All this may have held back structural change this year, leaving the Raiders holding on to systems no longer suitable for the people running them. Or half way between. We’d thought we’d seen a more robust and physical approach to start the season but it definitely fell away. Maybe circumstance curtailed Madge’s magic? We’ll never know. A year is a short time in rugby league. There’s simply too many variables to be certain, but it’s hard to argue with the numbers.

It’s unlikely to be addition by subtraction though. If structural problems held back Madge’s influence in 2023, they will still be in place in 2024. The fullback, such an important part in defensive organisation, will either be a part-timer or an inexperienced option. Even if the Raiders think Chevy Stewart or Xavier Savage is ready to be there going forward neither is likely to be there all 24 rounds. That’s how being young and/or physically immature works. There’s still no certain solution on the right edge beyond hoping Elliott Whitehead can somehow stave off the sands of time. Jack Wighton, such a unique point-of-strength in the defence (relative to whom other teams have defending as their left half) is going to be gone, replaced by either a rookie or near rookie.

More than these, Stuart will still be the brains of this malfunctioning Voltron. So whoever comes in for Madge will face the same issues, same restrictions, presumably with less experience to manage the vagaries of Stuart’s systems and personality. Canberra desperately needs new ideas, but with Stuart at the helm even the most exemplary assistant may not be able to move the needle.

As to the replacement I’ll guess we’ll see. It’s unlikely to be another big name. More likely a promotion opportunity in-house, or another old boy coming home. That’s what happens when you’re forced to wait to mid November to start your search. Most names with associations to Stuart or Canberra than get bandied about will have little merit or experience to their name. In measuring your enthusiasm for proposed candidates remember coaching is a skill like any other profession, and playing the game has no correlation to be able to coach it. One fault of rugby league is we think playing the game at the highest level makes you able to teach it. It’s no guarantee. There probably heaps of good assistants out there in search of an opportunity. One hopes that’s where go looking, rather than just for a name you know.

If there’s a downside it’s in the communication pathway to elite talent offered through Madge’s position as Kiwi coach. It hasn’t had time to pay off, but a strong selling point of his arrival at Canberra was perhaps getting an inside word to New Zealanders in search of a new home. Alas, we’ll just have to settle for helpful “selections” that reduced Seb Kris’ suspension.

It’ll also temporarily cruel enthusiasm of those that saw Madge as the successor to Stuart. I was never as sold on that as many – if simply because the timelines are unlikely to match up. Stuart won’t go any time soon, and is unlikely to be pushed. I feel like Madge wants to get back into a Head Coach sooner than any of that will occur. Perhaps the Origin position keeps him happy in the meantime – lord knows the money is better. The possibility still remains if Canberra choose the pursue it, but I doubt it will occur now (though I wasn’t certain it would before either).

For now though it’s the end of an era that never really got started. We’ll keep an eye out on who comes in next. Whoever it is will have a huge job to do.

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