Michael Hagan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Michael Hagan (born August 12, 1964) is a former premiership-winning rugby league player and Queensland State of Origin representative.

The younger brother of former Test centre Bob Hagan, Michael was graded with Canterbury in 1983. Although best suited to play at five-eighth of halfback, the presence of Terry Lamb and Steve Mortimer forced Hagan to play much of his career with Canterbury as a "fill in" at fullback, centre or lock forward - despite the fact that he was clearly too slow for the outside backs and never big enough for the forwards. Hagan did, though, play a superb role filling in for Lamb in Canterbury's upset win in the 1985 grand final. In 1988 Hagan was injured in a car crash but remarkably recovered to play superbly in Canterbury's three finals, scoring a try in the grand final. With Mortimer retiring, Hagan might have had a chance for a permanent position in the halves, but by this time he had already decided to move to Newcastle where he signed with the Knights.

Hagan's craft and guile at five-eighth led to a rapid rise in the Knights' fortunes: they advanced from fourteenth to sixth (losing a play-off for fifth) in two seasons between 1988 and 1990. He took over Newcastle's captaincy in early 1990 and, despite fluctuating team fortunes and being moved to the less suitable centre position to accommodate the emerging Matthew Johns in his last season. He also played 92 games for Halifax RLFC in 1984-1985 and 1993-1995. During his career with Newcastle, Hagan played five State of Origin games for Queensland, successfully deputising for Allan Langer in 1989.

Hagan was the media manager for the Hunter Mariners during the Super League war in Australia, and subsequently joined the coaching staff of Mal Meninga at the Canberra Raiders, coaching the President's Cup team in 1998 and First Division in 1999.

In 2000 Hagan became the first division coach at the Newcastle Knights, and succeeded Warren Ryan as coach in 2001. He became the first former Knights player to coach the club, and later that season became the first coach since Phil Gould to win the premiership in his first season.

Hagan coached the Queensland State of Origin team in 2004 and 2005. Although he was unable to win a series, in both seasons the series went to a deciding game, only for the Maroons to lose.

In 2005, after losing their first thirteen games of the season, the Knights finished with the wooden spoon. In early 2006, Hagan signed a contract to coach the Parramatta Eels from 2007 to 2009, and finished his tenure at Newcastle at the end of the 2006 season. He is be the longest serving coach in Knights history, and guided the Knights to finals appearances in four of his six seasons, more than any other coach in the team's history.

Preceded by Warren Ryan 1999-2000	Coach Newcastle Knights 2001-2006	Succeeded by Brian Smith 2007-
Preceded by Jason Taylor 2006	Coach Parramatta Eels 2007-	Succeeded by Incumbent

Preceded by Wayne Bennett 2001-2003

Coach Queensland State of Origin 2004-2005

Succeeded by Mal Meninga 2006-