Newly appointed South Sydney coach Michael Maguire has not ruled out a future return to Super League, where he is coaching Wigan this year.

Maguire announced last week he would be leaving the champions at the end of the season to take charge of the Rabbitohs in the NRL.

Yet while the 37-year-old may have made an instant impression at the DW Stadium by guiding the Warriors to their first title in 12 years, he admits Britain has also made its mark on him.

Maguire said: "I have bought a place here and that is here to stay.

"I'll see what happens in the future, but you can always come back.

"I hadn't thought whether I'd be coming over here for a short period or a long period.

"I just wanted to make sure I did as good a job as I could."

Maguire was highly regarded as Melbourne's assistant coach and the offer from Souths came as no surprise after his Wigan success only added to his reputation.

He concedes there could have been an issue as his contract at Wigan had another year to run but he and the club reached an amicable agreement over his release.

"It was an extremely difficult decision. I had to put a fair bit of thought into it because I am really enjoying my time here and the people have been great," he said.

"The players have bought into everything I've tried to bring to the club and have done very well.

"There were certain issues but it seemed like the right thing to do at the moment.

"I have personal reasons - I have many family back home, so does my wife.

"We have a young family and we'll be able to take the kids back to spend some time with the family back home. It is a big part of the decision."

Maguire insists he will have no problems focusing fully on Wigan matters until the end of the season.

The Warriors continue their Super League title defence with a home derby clash against rivals St Helens on Friday.

"We move forward now," said Maguire, whose assistant Shaun Wane is the early favourite to succeed him.

"There had been a lot of speculation and it wasn't until last week that I made the decision, so didn't have much to say.

"But it's been made now and I am really looking forward to being as strong as we can this week and week-in, week-out for the year to come."

Veteran halfback Paul Deacon could miss the Saints clash as his partner is expecting, but otherwise the long-term injury victims Eamon O'Carroll and Stuart Fielden are the only likely absentees.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP