The Wests Tigers have reportedly identified who the front-runner is to land the vacant coaching seat at the joint venture, with the club preparing to table Penrith Panthers' assistant coach Cameron Ciraldo a mega five-year deal.
Ciraldo has long been earmarked as the next most likely man to take over an NRL team as the head coach.
He has been an assistant in the Penrith system, but has worked his way up through the ranks, coaching at both under-20s level and NSW Cup level before becoming the second in command for the NRL team, where he has been involved in the 2020 grand final and 2021 premiership.
Ciraldo also has head coaching experience, having been the man in charge of Italy during the 2015 World Cup, and spending a brief period of time in charge of Penrith following former coach Anthony Griffin's departure.
While it has also been reported that Ciraldo has begun negotiating with Penrith for a contract extension, that was only after Trent Barrett became the first coach to be sacked this season.
There are now three spots available following the instant departures of Nathan Brown at the Warriors and Maguire at the Tigers on the same day, and Code Sports are reporting the Tigers want Ciraldo.
It's understood the club are set to table the five-year offer as they believe the job security attached with the long-term deal may be enough to prize Ciraldo away from Penrith.
Tigers' director of football Tim Sheens recently expressed his desire to bring a "development" coach to the club, working with the mountain of young talent currently in the Tigers' academy.
It means Ciraldo could be the perfect fit, while Kristian Woolf is another name who is likely on the radar given the way he worked his way through the coaching ranks in Townsville and through the QLD Cup, before making the jump to England where he has had plenty of success in charge of St Helens in the English Super League.
The coaching merry-go-round, which has three spots up for grabs, is reportedly also seeing former coaches Shane Flanagan and Paul Green's name feature prominently across the three clubs, while other current assistant coaches like John Morris, Josh Hannay, Jason Ryles, Ben Hornby and Dean Young could all be in the picture to land a job.
