Michael Maguire "has found the key to his playmakers and where they need to be" following a confident 36-18 run-over against the Newcastle Knights, says league legend Peter Sterling.
Having experimented with his line-up throughout the first third of the season while experiencing a wide range of results, Maguire's Tigers found perhaps their best performance of the year at Magic Round.
A positional swap between young gun Adam Doueihi and Moses Mbye, which saw the former shift out to the centres and Mbye into five-eighth, was at first roundly criticised when announced ahead of Round 10.
But Madge's masterstroke reaped dividends as Doueihi was able to break open the game from a strike position, while Mbye looked far more comfortable back in the halves with Luke Brooks.
Sterling reasoned that both men played such a pivotal role that it took the burden off Brooks, who in turn was at his best, tearing through the Knights' defence with his running game.
"Madge Maguire copped some criticism with some question marks put over the positional changes," Sterling told Wide World of Sports' Sterlo's Wrap.
"Adam Doueihi had been his best player in recent weeks. You don't often see a player in great form positionally moved. But they got it right.
"Moses Mbye I didn't think offered enough danger out in the centres, came into five-eighth, played beautifully. Doueihi went out and he was still able to have a real control on this game despite being a little bit wider. And Luke Brooks' running game came to the fore because those other guys took on more responsibility.
"Brooks' best part of his game has always been his running game and it was there for everybody to see. Let's hope that continues for the Tigers. It may well be that Michael Maguire has found the key to his playmakers and where they need to be."
Sterling also reserved special praise for Joey Leilua who he says has turned his game around in a few short weeks by competing on effort plays.
Sterling had previously called out Leilua for a shocking performance earlier this year at Campbelltown but was more than happy to eat his words after the centre showed a renewed commitment to his game.
"What I thought was really good, with Joey Leilua, was the desperation," he said.
"Newcastle would break, and there is Joey Leilua, who I criticised earlier in the season at Campbelltown for a lack of effort to get back. Now, he's not the only black jersey to get back there but this is the effort that makes the difference. He chases, and he's there just in case.
"If everybody is in that mindset, good things happen to your football team. So, I just thought if I'm prepared to be critical of Joey Leilua earlier in the year for lack of effort, it was wonderful to see that and it deserved to be praised because the Wests Tigers need that kind of effort from all their players if they're going to make a run up the ladder."
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