Embattled Wests Tigers coach Michael Maguire has already had one miracle, but a 0-3 start to the season should ultimately prevent him from having another.
The first miracle, frankly, was that he was still in charge of the joint venture club at the start of the 2022 season.
After a tumultuous 2021 campaign, Maguire spent most of the summer in a seeming smoking gun as the club interviewed other candidates and conducted a full internal review.
Tim Sheens arrived as the new director of football and it seemed like for both Maguire and halfback Luke Brooks, who is 170 (more now) games into a career without finals, were set to exit the club.
But instead, the Tigers baffled the rugby league public and decided both would remain in their positions of power for the 2022 season.
It's clear this is a club which needs major change, both on and off the field, and their dire performance on Friday night during Round 3 against the New Zealand Warriors is testament to that.
It was touched on last week, but the fact Maguire came out and said "Brooks will hit his potential" while at the Tigers is now 100 per cent laughable.
Brooks has played 174 games and is yet to make the finals. The halfback is 27 years old. At what point will he reach his potential?
That's just one of the problems, but, arguably, bigger than that is the constant conjecture and speculation hanging over Maguire and what time he has left in the head role at the club.
Maguire is now into his fourth season at the Tigers.
Since taking over in 2019, he has finished ninth, 11th and 13th. That is a general regression, winning 11, seven and eight games over those three seasons.
While Tim Sheens continues to go into bat for Maguire, and the coach himself doesn't think he is in trouble, the question has to be asked whether he can survive a 0-7 start to the season. Or even 1-6.
“I’m not worried about being sacked, not at all,” Maguire said in an interview with News Corp this week.
“I’ve been here a while now and everyone is after results, which is where the pressure is coming from. But Sheensy and I are on the same page.
“The beauty of Tim is that he is experienced and he doesn’t panic. He gets it. He understands where we are at the moment as a club. Sheensy has been around the game a long time and knows the journey we’re on. I’m comfortable.”
But a 0-7 start to the season is the exact reality the Tigers are facing.
From 0-3, they are now faced with the Gold Coast Titans, Cronulla Sharks, Parramatta Eels and South Sydney Rabbitohs over the next month, before playing the St George Illawarra Dragons, Manly Sea Eagles, North Queensland Cowboys and Canterbury Bulldogs.
There are some winnable games there but, if they lose for the next month, you have to wonder exactly what sort of position the club will be in.
Despite a brief flicker of hope in Round 1 when the club were able to compete with the Melbourne Storm for the first half, and the fact Adam Doueihi is out injured, their performance on Friday against the Warriors was abysmal.
There is no way around just how poor it was, with the Tigers losing their third game on the trot - and second in a row where they didn't even briefly look competitive.
The problem with that is that every other team now seems to have figured out how to play the new rules. The Tigers simply haven't. They are slow, lethargic and have a poor attack which isn't built to capitalise on a faster pace of play in the slightest.
Some of that is down to the players. Maguire isn't out there missing tackles and dropping the football, but he is coaching a bland style of football which hasn't evolved with the game.
When Maguire won the premiership at the South Sydney Rabbitohs in 2014, he had a team who not only suited his style but could also put up with his incredibly tough work on the training park.
It didn't take all that long to implode at the Rabbitohs, with Maguire gone three years after leading the club to a premiership for the first time since the days of black and white television.
The Tigers simply don't have the squad to play Maguire-style, and, even with that sort of squad, it's hard to know exactly how well they would be doing.
While the club authorities' decision to stick by Maguire could be applauded for loyalty, coaching is a results-driven business.
It always has been, and always will be.
To start the season with potentially no victories in the first seven rounds, after three seasons of pain, simply isn't good enough, no matter which way you try to spin it.
Maguire should need a miracle to survive.
He isn't going to get it though.
“Brooks … is yet to make the finals. The halfback is 27 years old. At what point will he reach his potential?”
I suggest that answer is when he gets to play behind a pack that is going forward, and plays in a team that that tackles for 80 minutes, like their lives/careers depend on it.
I’m no Tigers fan, but I have some respect for Luke Brooks. He has stuck with the club, not turned his back on it.