A refreshed Michael Maguire says his time out of the NRL has helped him and he is ready to hit the ground running with Wests Tigers.
Maguire spent a year out of the competition after parting ways with South Sydney in September 2017. Since then he has taken on coaching the New Zealand national team and last week was appointed to replace Ivan Cleary at the Tigers on a three-year contract.
The 44-year-old, currently in Liverpool preparing for the second Test against England, will keep doing both roles and believes his time with the Kiwis has been hugely beneficial.
The New Zealand Rugby League has given him the green light to carry on in both jobs.
“When I actually went for the role I spoke about that straight after and they were OK with that,” Maguire said.
“It’s part of it, the opportunities that you get in coaching. I feel very privileged to take this post.
“When I finish up with the tour I’ll change my focus of where I need to be. I’m really glad to be back coaching.
“I’ve had 12 months break, I’m loving every minute of being with these players. There’s lots to enjoy and these things they do just away from the field as well.
“There’s some really great characters and really good people this playing group. It’s not until you get to know them personally, like I’ve been able to know, and I’ve got more respect for them for what they do and who they are as people.”
New Zealand take on England in the second Test on Sunday (Monday 1.30am AEDT) desperate to end a poor run against Wayne Bennett’s men.
The Kiwis went down 18-16 in the first Test in Hull and were beaten 36-18 by England in Denver in June.
Maguire is expecting a physical battle in the front third with front-rower Luke Thompson replacing the injured Sean O’Loughlin at lock.
“They’re a big team and with Sean O’Loughlin not being there I think they will play a fairly challenging game through the middle,” the former Souths coach said.
“Defensively we understand we have to be strong. There were moments in the last game where we let ourselves down with various things we did.
“We’ve identified that. At the end of the day it’s what we do over the 80 minutes. It’s a test match so we’re expecting every moment to be an important one.”
Maguire expects more from his halves partnership Shaun Johnson and Kodi Nikorima at Anfield against England.
“They’re well aware of what we’re after,” he said.
“They’ve taken ownership and they’ve been really strong right throughout the week. Shaun’s understands his game, they’ve gone through that and they know what they need to do.”
