Hoops: Flanagan talk grows as Madge has Tigers primed for finals push

The Wests Tigers rollercoaster season showed just enough signs of life in Round 19 to earn coach Michael Maguire some much-needed latitude.

The outside noise about Maguire coaching to save his career has been deafening over the course of the last fortnight.

Heavy duty losses to South Sydney and the Melbourne Storm had Maguire’s tenure at Concord directly in the cross hairs.

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Maguire is signed until the end of 2023 but with only five wins and 11 losses heading into the Broncos match it was a huge game for the Wests Tigers coach.

There’s a big behind-the-scenes push for Cronulla Sharks premiership-winning coach Shane Flanagan to be brought into Concord for next season.

Behind the Scenes of the Wests Tigers | 01:01

Which is why Madge needed a performance like the team submitted against the Broncos like oxygen.

‘Wild Wests: Tales from Tiger Town’ premieres on Fox League, FOX8 and Kayo on Monday, July 19 at 7.30pm.

The Wests Tigers fan base will get to see the most raw version of Maguire when the Fox Sports documentary Wild Wests airs on Fox League 502 at 7.30pm tonight.

As much as the premiership-winning coach gets a bad rap as a tough taskmaster there are a number of layers to Maguire’s drill sergeant exterior.

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Tim Sheens has already begun his role as Wests Tigers head of football performance from the UK but like thousands of people overseas it’s a challenge returning home.

Sheens was booked on a flight recently but had his path blocked at the 11th hour meaning he must continue to work from 14,000km away.

Maguire understands the pressure | 01:53

The four-time premiership-winner will still need to do a fortnight in quarantine when he returns to Australia before getting his feet under the desk at Concord.

In the meantime the Tigers have a reasonable run home over the course of the next seven weeks and need to continue to win.

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Aside from Manly and Penrith the Wests Tigers play the Bulldogs twice, the Warriors, Cronulla and the Cowboys.

There’s plenty of winnable games and for Maguire’s sake he must finish as high on the ladder as possible.

The talk about halfback Luke Brooks being shopped to other clubs has been shot down by the Tigers.

But there is no doubt there’s a big push for Flanagan to be given an opportunity to try and fix a club that’s been regarded as an NRL basket case for the last decade.

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