Former South Sydney Rabbitohs premiership-winning coach Michael Maguire has reportedly verbally agreed to take the NSW Blues head coaching job, replacing Brad Fittler.
This comes after the current Canberra Raiders assistant coach emerged as the number one contender for the head coaching role on Wednesday, with the likes of John Cartwright, Jason Ryles, Geoff Toovey, Craig Bellamy and others linked to the job.
News Corp has reported that Maguire has "verbally agreed" to become the next NSW State of Origin coach after accepting an offer from New South Wales Rugby League for the job.
It is understood that the talks are in the closing stages of being finalised after Maguire also informed the Raiders that he intends to take the job that Brad Fittler previously held.
The deal that he will accept is set to be a part-time contract.
Maguire has received a ton of support recently from two former legendary State of Origin greats who believe he is the right fit for the top coaching NSW Blues job.
“I think Michael Maguire would be a great pick,” four-time NSW Blues five-eighth Matthew Johns said on SEN 1170's The Round Up.
“Some would say Michael Maguire isn't currently a head coach, he's an assistant to Ricky Stuart but he's looking after New Zealand. The difference with 'Madge' is even when he's not coaching, he's coaching.
“He's always working on his principles and how he wants to go about work. As soon as this NSW job came about, I'd have no doubt that Madge would be starting to scribble notes down just in case he got it.
“He's doing a great job at New Zealand, I don't think they would necessarily be happy about this with Madge being constantly spoken about but it's important to say that Madge actually hasn't put his hand up, his focus is on New Zealand, but I really think he'd do a good job.”
Johns' words on Magurie were followed by that of Lote Tuqiri. Not only has Tuqiri played six games for Queensland in the Origin arena from 2001-02, but he is also a former player under Maguire.
“I reckon Madge would be the leading candidate because he's really passionate about what he does,” Tuqiri told SEN 1170 Sportsday.
“Some of the players that played under him (would know) to sustain that level of passion for 26 to 28 rounds is very tough.
“He's learnt a fair bit, but I think a six-week block with cream-of-the-crop players, Madge could do a really good job with Nathan Cleary and the players he has at his disposal.”
The current New Zealand Kiwis Test coach previously applied for the NSW Blues coaching role in 2018, prior to Brad Fittler's appointment.
He will also bring a winning record of 55 per cent in his club coaching career with the Wigan Warriors, South Sydney Rabbitohs and Wests Tigers, as well as a 67 per cent winning record when in charge of New Zealand - a role he has held since 2018.
“It's about building an environment that best brings out performance. Whether it's at club level, representative level, it's about creating an environment where people can play at their best,'' Maguire said via News Corp.
“That's what you set out to do. When I was at Souths in '14 and when I was at Wigan, the players created a strong environment that was set by the people around them.
“Having a great group around them to give them the best opportunity to perform, that's what you want.''