Paul Deacon jokes he “still has nightmares” about it every time he walks the dog. But Michael Maguire’s pre-season training sessions in 2010 were no joke, and those at Haigh Hall, just around the corner from where Deacon lives, were particularly infamous.
Pat Richards, the Tigers’ 2005 premiership hero who also played 244 games for Wigan between 2006 and 2013, remembers the very first session he had under Maguire at Haigh Hall. It was the start of the 2010 pre-season. Maguire, who did his coaching apprenticeship under Craig Bellamy in Melbourne, was taking over from former Great Britain coach Brian Noble. The Warriors players knew that he’d been the assistant coach at the Storm, but outside of that? “I suppose no one really knew who Madge was,” Richards said.
What they ended up getting was a pre-season which Deacon described as “horrific”. “It was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done without a shadow of a doubt,” he said. Deacon recalled doing eight weight sessions a week and running “I don’t know how many kilometres a week as well”. But he can remember the exact number of kilometres — five — he and the rest of the Wigan players were made to run through the forests surrounding Haigh Hall during that first training session under Maguire.
The Rigorous Regimen
Deacon remembers how many minutes they had to rest too. Only five. And once those five minutes were over? Another five kilometres. “Madge was there watching us hiding in the bushes and things like that,” Richards laughed. “The boys were absolutely cooked.” After those extra five kilometres were done, they then went straight into a wrestling session.
“I just remember from the very first session that we did, everyone just realised that a level had just gone up and it’s either you go along with it or you get left behind,” Richards said. Then came the two army camps. “Both as horrific as each other,” Deacon cackled. The first was in Lancashire but the second, in the top-end of Scotland, was particularly brutal. Picture push-ups on concrete, except it takes you a while to even realise it is concrete. “Because there was that much snow on the floor,” Deacon said.
O’Loughlin, who jokingly recalled Mark ‘Piggy’ Riddell not being able to get into bed one day “because his back was seized up”, said that while it was a “tough time” it was something the playing group needed — and wanted. “He just was a breath of fresh air to everyone,” O’Loughlin said. “It was a tough time, tough pre-season — probably one of the hardest I’d had at the time. But there was a good group of lads that were hungry for success and what he brought in kind of delivered on that front.”
A Cultural Shift
Maguire was Wigan’s 11th coach since the switch to a summer Super League in 1996, which also marked the end of a dominant stretch which saw the Warriors win the Challenge Cup every season from 1988 to 1995 while also doubling up with the past six Championships. Archrivals St Helens had usurped Wigan, who since 1996 won the Super League and Challenge Cup just once while losing three grand finals and two Challenge Cup finals.
“They changed coaches, they brought in big name players but they just couldn’t seem to turn it around and then they go and sign this relatively unknown coach from Australia.” — James Graham
Within a year, that relatively unknown coach from Australia was at the centre of a sea of red, lifting the trophy at Old Trafford after taking Wigan to its first Super League title since 1998. “The turnaround was incredible really,” Graham said. But his impact was felt far beyond the four walls inside DW Stadium and now, as Maguire prepares to break another long-standing premiership drought, foxsports.com.au spoke to Wigan legends and his former right-hand man to understand the magic behind Maguire as a coach.
“He changed the culture of the club without a shadow of a doubt,” Deacon said. “The work ethic, the mindset, he transformed Wigan and in my opinion he transformed the game over here as well in England.”
Stories of Transformation
Ask Deacon for stories from his time playing under Maguire and he will tell you he could “go on and on”. But there is one that he said “will stay with me forever”. It was a wretched Wigan winter and Deacon couldn’t get his car out of the driveway. So, Sam Tomkins came to give him a lift. They then stopped to pick up Cameron Phelps, who also happened to live only a few minutes away. But they didn’t end up making it to training that day. At least, in Tomkins’ car they didn’t.
You see, they were going down the road and then the car suddenly started to skid in the snow, crashing into a garden wall. So, they knocked on the door and sorted it all out with the owner before calling Maguire to let him know they wouldn’t be able to make it to training. Which only seems reasonable, right? With any other coach, maybe. But this wasn’t any other coach. Maguire immediately asked where they were and told them he’d be there in 10 minutes.
“No word of a lie,” Deacon said. “He came around and picked us up and took us to training. There was no missing training with Madge.”
That may seem extreme. Sure, there are bound to be some excuses that simply aren’t good enough. But being in a car accident? Deacon said it was the one story that best “summed” Maguire up and in a lot of ways, you can see why.
The Legacy of Michael Maguire
Michael Maguire’s tenure at Wigan was not just about winning titles; it was about creating a legacy of hard work, discipline, and camaraderie. His methods, though intense, brought out the best in his players and set a standard that influenced not just the team but the entire league.
As Maguire prepares to lead another group of young men out for a grand final, he may — even just for one second — think back to what it felt like to lift the trophy for the first time. But unlike the ashes scattered on the turf at Headingley and later lost in the evening breeze, it is a memory that will be with him and that special 2011 playing group for the rest of time.
