Sheens, Pascoe and Hagipantelis addressed the group, answering questions from a squad keen to know what was next for the club. In the short term, the answer is Brett Kimmorley, who rocked up at Concord an hour after Maguire’s departure to the news that he would be the coach of the NRL team for another 12 weeks - or longer if he performs a miracle and breaks the decade-long finals hoodoo.

Suggestions of a mass exodus of supposedly disappointed players were wide of the mark. They left the facility one by one, avoiding questions on the way out. Captain James Tamou politely declared that he would respect the club’s wishes and not comment on the matter. After the players were gone, Sheens fronted the cameras alongside his new interim coach to defend the club’s decision.

″⁣Madge is a realist,″⁣ Sheens said. ″⁣He knew he was under pressure. We talked about the money we spent on development. That’s the way we’ve got to go. We need someone for at least three or four years to see that through. Kids in our first grade side are only 21. We have some great under-19s. It is not only results but our future. My role is to talk about where we will be in three years time.″⁣

The Tigers will take their time to work out their next move. You can be assured Cameron Ciraldo will be high on their shortlist, not that Sheens was giving much away.

″⁣My phone will run hot the next few days,″⁣ he said. ″⁣We can sit back and have a good look at it. We will go to market. We didn’t want to disrespect Madge in going to people before he was out of the role.″⁣

In Ciraldo, the Wests Tigers would get the development coach they seek. A mentor renowned for his ability to connect with players, having nurtured the likes of Jarome Luai, Dylan Edwards, Nathan Cleary and James Fisher-Harris as their coach from when they were teenagers.

Some at Penrith joke that Nathan would only leave his father to play under Ciraldo, such is the respect the NSW halfback has for the coach who brought him through the ranks.

The Tigers believe they are embarking on a similar journey to the Panthers many years ago, when they invested in youth and relied on the development of talent from within the ranks to transform into stars. Ciraldo is only 37 years old and would become one of the youngest in NRL history if he was to take the plunge next year.

Trent Robinson was 35 when Sydney Roosters supremo Nick Politis lured him from Catalans to take over from Brian Smith after his team finished the 2012 season in 13th. Robinson is now in the company of the all-time greats.

Many have already advised Ciraldo not even to contemplate the Wests Tigers job. But for all the criticism of the joint venture’s on-field exploits, the Wests Tigers as a club is in a strong financial position, now spending $2 million more on the football department than during Jason Taylor’s final season in 2017.

The new $75m centre of excellence at Concord will open in July.

The roster remains a work in progress, but there are green shoots in the lower grades and some hope in the form of incoming recruits Api Koroisau and Isaiah Papali’i next year.

On Nine’s 100% Footy on Monday night, Phil Gould warned that the Tigers weren’t reading the room well if they sacked Maguire.

″⁣I’m telling you, there’s half a dozen players ready to walk with him,″⁣ Gould said.

Sheens scoffed at such a suggestion. The Tigers saw it as an attempt to undermine their hopes of luring a coach the Bulldogs may also want. Let the games begin.

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