Coaching Insider: Round 19

Wests Tigers Head Coach Michael Maguire says his side is looking forward to the clash against the Newcastle Knights at Beanies for Brain Cancer Stadium this Friday night.

After a close loss on the weekend to Canberra, Maguire was strong in his assessment of the side's performance post-match but said his side are well aware of the task ahead of them with a number of teams in the running for the top eight.

“The boys have trained well this week and we understand the situation of where we’re at," Maguire said. "We've been going on about what we need to do on the night and that's the most important thing.

"The boys have spoken about that and I’ve said my piece around where we are as a club and we need to grow. We’ve been pretty straight forward with what we speak about so it’s up to the boys to get out there and get that job done.

"I know what this group's capable of.

"I just want them to do the things they’ve been practicing and take that out on to the field for 80 minutes. If they do that, then we’ll give ourselves a good opportunity."

Wests Tigers will celebrate Robbie Farah's 300th first-grade game on Friday, with the hooker becoming the club's first local junior in history to reach the milestone. 

Maguire said the milestone added some extra incentive for the side, but wouldn't be the main driving factor for his side heading in to the night.

“He’s obviously put a lot of history into the organisation and I think he’s going to be remembered for a long time," Maguire said. 

"I’ve been very fortunate to spend some time with Robbie around previous places and to see him come back and work hard here is great.

He said at the start of the week that he wants to make sure that it’s all about the performance. And with someone like Robbie that has done so much with the history within this club, it’s definitely an important game for us."

In addition to the milestone, Friday's game will also fall in the Beanies for Brain Cancer Round — an initiative launched by former Knights player Mark Hughes through his foundation to help raise much-needed funds for brain cancer research.

“I think this round means a lot to everyone and has really grown in the NRL to a very special piece of the game now," Maguire said.

"Mark Hughes has spoken a lot about what he’s had to go through, and I think being able to support so many people around our game is great to be a part of.”