Sheens takes on a Gould-like role at Tigers as club looks for big-name recruits
Wests Tigers premiership-winning coach Tim Sheens has been rushed in to start work on recruitment and retention and looms as the club’s trump card in attempting to land big-name signings.
On the same day coach Michael Maguire shot down any interest in Canberra centre Curtis Scott, Tigers officials revealed Sheens, who is still stranded in England, had already been used as a sounding board for future targets.
The man who delivered the club’s only title was signed in June to oversee the Tigers’ pathways and junior development at the joint-venture club.
But the 70-year-old has already had his role beefed up to include a Phil Gould-style recruiting component for the Tigers’ NRL program, after the club recently came under fire for failing to sign several marquee targets, including Dale Finucane and Tevita Pangai jnr.
The club maintain they got it right by only offering Finucane a two-year deal with a third-year option in their favour for around $600,000 a season – he signed with Cronulla for four years – while they only returned to the negotiating table late with Pangai because they had enough belief their club culture would help the back-rower thrive. Pangai opted for the Bulldogs.
Tigers CEO Justin Pascoe told the Herald the club would not pay overs or “panic buy”, and had already made shrewd long-term signings with the likes of Daine Laurie, Shawn Blore, Stefano Utoikamanu and Luciano Leilua.
Top Tiger … Tim SheensCredit:PA
Pascoe said the Sheens impact could be likened to that of Gould at Canterbury, and despite being out of the NRL a decade, Sheens still had “gravitas”.
“We’ve already spoken to Tim about future signings and he has shared his thoughts and knowledge with us,” Pascoe said.
“He has a keen eye for talent identification and he will certainly assist ‘Madge’ [Michael Maguire] and [football manager] Adam [Hartigan].
“Having been still based over in the UK, he has a lot of connections over there and knows who has been performing well, so he can also give us a leg up with those local players.
“But he has kept a close eye on the NRL, has a lot of respect in the game and he knows what success looks like. He has the Wests Tigers blood in him.”
Pascoe said there were no plans for Sheens to succeed Maguire as head coach, and despite the “outside noise” there were no concerns about Maguire’s future.
A win over the New Zealand Warriors on Friday night will keep the club well and truly in the finals race.
“Madge is a big part of our club and the direction we’re heading, and while we’re not happy with some of the results on the field, we still have six weeks to prove what we believe we can do on the field,” Pascoe said.
“I’m sometimes amazed at some of the talk out there. There was talk at the start of the week about Shane Flanagan, but there has been no talk with Shane Flanagan. Michael Maguire is our head coach. He will remain our head coach.”
As for playmaker Luke Brooks and his future beyond this season – there were suggestions Brooks and Moses Mbye were offered to Canberra as part of a bizarre swap deal with Jack Wighton and Josh Hodgson – Pascoe said he wanted to show how committed the club were to the local junior, they wanted to extend his deal further.
“Luke has been a West Tiger all his life, he’s loyal and an honest kid, and we have the utmost respect in Luke,” Pascoe said. “We’ve told him that, we’ve told his management that, he has two more years, but the expectations are Luke will be here a lot longer than that.”
Pascoe has often pointed to the stability in the Tigers’ front office, and said while fans were only concerned about on-field results, the financial success allowed them to pour money into the football department and respected judges like Sheens.
Off-contract centre James Roberts was allowed remain in Queensland this week, despite breaching a balcony directive from the Queensland Government, and Pascoe said there were no plans for him to return home early, and he was keen and appreciative to be given the chance to unite with his teammates.
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