In never-seen-before footage, a furious Wests Tigers coach Michael Maguire lets rip at his own players for their ‘embarrassing’ performances.
As the Wests Tigers’ season sits on a knife edge, fans have been given another behind-the-scenes glimpse into the club’s rollercoaster season.
The Tigers have become the first NRL club to throw its doors open for an in-depth documentary series following the club’s turbulent 2021 season.
Wild Wests: Tales from Tiger Town is a FOX SPORTS Original Production and will be available to watch on Foxtel and stream on Kayo, premiering in primetime at 7.30pm on Monday, July 19.
The four-part documentary follows the Tigers’ season so far as they attempts to rebuild and make their first finals series since way back in 2011.
The second episode, which is available to stream on Kayo, covers the rounds in the middle of the season, including losses to the Cowboys, Rabbitohs, Manly and the Titans.
A win over St George Illawarra is the only bright spot in an otherwise despondent episode reflective of the Tiger’s lowly position on the table.
The Tigers are 13th on the NRL ladder and need to win three out of their last four games against the Cowboys, Sharks, Panthers and Bulldogs to have any hope of making the top eight and breaking a finals drought stretching back to 2011.
Coach Michael Maguire is again the central figure in the documentary, as he strives to motivate the Tigers in his first year at the helm and get some improvement out of his players.
But it’s the same old story in the second instalment, which features the Tigers being booed off Leichardt Oval by their own fans, when they trailed the North Queensland Cowboys 28-6 at halftime in the first game after club legend Tommy Raudonikis’ death.
In the change rooms, Maguire gave his troops a serious dressing down, before admitting he as “embarrassed” up in the coach’s box.
“It’s f***ing embarrassing. In front of our own f***ing fans, we’re doing this.
“My god, what the hell. 28 to 6 in a f***ing half. Booed off by your own fans on the big day.
“When you boys want to bring the f***ing Wests Tigers team to this game, you’ll go out there and you’ll f***ing get this game.
“But I tell you what, you’re working like a bunch of individuals at the moment. That’s the disappointing part of what I’m seeing.
“I tell you what you need to do here boys, you need to f***ing toughen up and turn into a f***ing gritty team.
“We talk about f***ing Tommy all week and all this sort of stuff — you aren’t doing any of that of our practice.
“We have a real simple game, and you’re making it f***ing harder than what it needs to be. “So you can sit there boys with your shoulders like this (slumped over) or get your f***ing heads up and start going: ‘Righto we’ve got to earn this f***ing right to win the game’.”
Five-eighth Adan Doueihi admitted it was “shattering” to be booed off the field by their own fans.
“I’ve never sort of been booed in my life and I guess at our first game at Leichhardt, such a big occasion, to be booed off by our fans at halftime — yeah it’s shattering to be honest,” he said.
“We thought we’re a genuine chance this year and we still think we are but until we start winning back-to-back games we’re no chance.
“So we’re going to have to do that and do it pretty quick.”
But Maguire saved his most epic spray for after his side lost narrowly to the Gold Coast Titans after yet another poor first half.
He absolutely let rip at his players, urging them to have a good hard look at themselves in an attempt to try and string some consistent form together.
“I’ll stand here and fucking protect you every f***ing day because you’re my f***ing playing group,” he said.
“You’ve got to f***ing grow up, you blokes.
“Some of you guys need to look in the f***ing mirror. This is first grade now.
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“Before the game I thought ‘f*** I’ll see how we go, can we back it up?’
“Patting ourselves on the f***ing back. We won one game.
“When are you guys going to turn up week in week out and stop f***ing patting yourselves on the back? Because that’s what goes on in this place.
“And f*** me, we won a f***ing game against St George. They’re f***ing down the bottom of the ladder too.
Maguire said be believes in his players but put the onus on them to get more out of themselves.
“It’s time to decide what you guys want to do with this club,” he said.
“That’s honestly the truth. If you’re f***ing fair dinkum here, you’ve got to want it more than anything you’ve ever wanted before.
“I’m f***ing passionate about you blokes because I f***ing believe in it but I don’t see that. It’s all our jobs to find that but you’ve got to bring yourself to it every time. It’s life and death.
Tigers fullback Moses Mbye confessed Maguire is a tough taskmaster but the players don’t make it any easier for him.
“He isn’t cranky but he gets cranky,” Mbye said.
“And we provoke him. Couple of losses here and there don’t help.
“He’s a head coach (and) he’s probably a manager, a mentor, a stepdad to half the players in our team and also a development coach.
“He’s a busy guy and I think anyone who would do that job would have to be as highly strung as he is.”
How to watch Wild Wests: Tales From Tigertown
All episodes will be available on FOX LEAGUE Channel 502, FOX8 & Kayo
Episode 1: Monday, July 19, 7.30pm AEST
Episode 2: Monday, August 9, 7.30pm AEST
Episode 3: Monday, August 16, 7.30pm AEST
Episode 4: Monday, August 30, 7.30pm AEST
Originally published as Michael Maguire sprays Wests Tigers players for ‘embarrassing’ performances