LeagueNews.co | Jess Malloy
Newly appointed NSW Blues coach Michael Maguire has put together a high-performance team with the help of Storm premiership winners in a bid to bring the Blues back to the top of the Origin series.
Maguire emphasized that he is "big on form" and that incumbency won't be the sole factor in selecting players for the upcoming season.
The NSWRL confirmed that Maguire had signed a multi-year deal to replace Brad Fittler as the Blues coach, and he has already assembled a strong coaching team including John Cartwright, Matt King, and Brett White.
Former Storm general manager of football Frank Ponissi has also been brought on board as the new team performance manager.
Maguire's primary goal is to win back the shield after the Maroons claimed victory in the past two series under Billy Slater's leadership.
He has made it clear that form will take precedence over reputation when selecting the team for next year.
This means that even Blues legends like James Tedesco will have to compete for their spot against players like Tom Trbojevic, Dylan Edwards, and Latrell Mitchell.
Maguire stated, "I'm going to keep a really open page on where I go."