His priority shouldn’t be motivating players who don’t really require motivation to enter rugby league’s Thunderdome. It should be to pick the right players in the first place, and then stick solid.

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Maguire needs to make the same sort of sweeping changes Fittler made in 2018 when he took over from Daley following three consecutive series losses.

That means backing new, younger players while moving on others whose time has passed. Having lost the last two series, the time for new blood is now. There is no need for loyalty. At all.

A lot can happen between now and May next year, but Maguire will need to make the tough call of tapping captain and fullback James Tedesco on the shoulder and telling him to concentrate on the Roosters.

He’ll need to abandon the two-hooker system Fittler tinkered with at various stages, mostly because the Maroons were doing it with Harry Grant and Ben Hunt, and just pick Api Koroisau ahead of Damien Cook.

He’ll need to stop the Pantherisation of the side, which doesn’t mean excluding Penrith players for the sake of it but making sure his side doesn’t play like them in the NRL.

Queensland’s defence picked off almost every Blues move in the first two matches of this year’s series, their outside defenders racing up and suffocating the play each time the ball shifted wide.

Nathan Cleary’s virtuoso performance for Penrith in the final 20 minutes of the grand final against Brisbane showed that he plays just well, if not better, without Jarome Luai and Isaah Yeo on the field.

Mostly, Maguire needs to find the right forwards who can roll through the middle like bowling balls, scattering defenders before peeling off lightning-fast play-the-balls. Payne Haas is one, but who can help him out?

Like anyone who coaches at Origin level, though, Maguire needs to find a way to ignore the noise and scrutiny of the Thunderdome.

It’s something he’s never handled well. If the pressure was too much at the Tigers, how will he cope with the weight of coaching NSW?

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