Michael Maguire should coach Newcastle next season – for his sake as much as theirs.

Since South Sydney's diabolical loss to Brisbane last Thursday night, talk has intensified about the possibility of the premiership-winning coach rescuing the troubled Knights.

Understand this: it's not idle speculation, despite expected denials.

Negotiations have taken place between the Knights and Maguire's representatives. They continue. Newcastle remain hopeful.

It is considered a long shot to happen, though, because Maguire commands about $800,000 per season at Souths, and has two years remaining on his current deal.

Newcastle is owned by the NRL after former billionaire owner Nathan Tinkler abandoned the club last year. They remain in a precarious financial position.

The Knights won't need NRL boss Dave Smith or anyone else at head office to sanction a massive offer for Maguire, but it would certainly raise questions if they blew the budget trying to secure one of the NRL's best coaches.

It's more than that, too.

Maguire also needs a club with deep pockets to fund a football department that doesn't cut corners. That is on the cutting edge of high performance. That sends its players to Arizona for high-altitude training in the pre-season. That sets the highest professional benchmarks in the NRL.

All of that costs money. Just ask Russell Crowe.

Typical of the man, Maguire is devoutly loyal to the club and job at hand. "There's nothing in that one at all," he offered when contacted by this column about the Knights job.

The smart money is on Nathan Brown – although don't expect an announcement any day soon as the Knights patiently take their time in finding the right man.

A glimmer of hope also remains that Maguire could be there next season.

The Knights need him. They didn't respond to Wayne Bennett, and in the past year descended further under replacement coach Rick Stone.

Those who were in the dressing-room before, during and after Knights matches this year report that Stone was a soft touch with his side in freefall.

The result: a team with a soft underbelly, which defies everything the Hunter Valley has ever been about.

What the Knights desperately need is discipline, and from a coach with a long-term view.

They need a coach who is so relentless on the training paddock that he gets in does wrestling sessions with his own players.

They need a coach who sets an example alongside them, demanding the strength and conditioning staff drill him so hard, despite the various injuries and ailments a 41-year-old former player carries, that he vomits.

They need a coach who looks primed for a new challenge, and in Maguire they have the perfect fit.

Nothing sparks talk about coaches "losing the dressing-room" like a stunning fall from grace, and Souths' horrific loss to the Broncos has certainly done that.

Far better judges than this one, mostly from rival clubs, have been uttering it all weekend, although it is a bridge too far to say the defending premiers are off their coach. Write them off at your peril.

But there are worrying signs.

The manner in which hooker Issac Luke carelessly launched a shoulder charge at Brisbane winger Corey Oates, resulting in a two-week ban, after beating a shoulder charge ban a fortnight earlier at the judiciary, but after missing a week for a dangerous throw, suggests his head is somewhere else. Like next season, with the Warriors.

Maguire blowtorched his players after their 32-18 loss to the Bulldogs in round 24. It was captured on Channel Nine's dressing-room cameras, evoking memories of last year's finals series when he provided a similar detonation after a win against Manly.

"That's up there," centre Dylan Walker said of Maguire's post-game rant last year. "It's constructive criticism."

Souths then stormed their way to the premiership.

Whatever Maguire said after the Bulldogs' defeat didn't linger too long in the ears of his players. They were never in the hunt against the Broncos, even if securing fourth position on the ladder was at stake.

They missed Greg Inglis at fullback, of course, but it was clear – more than ever – how much they missed Sam Burgess and Ben Te'o.

Those two special players left Souths to play rugby in Europe for various reasons.

But those familiar with the situation know it went beyond dollars, and fresh opportunities in a rival code in another land.

Footy had stopped being fun for them. Under the strict regime that Maguire demands, the Spartan existence can only be tolerated for so long.

They've juggled injuries to key players, but so has every other club. Simply, South Sydney look tired. They look worn down.

They picked up their premiership defence where they left off this season, their lungs on fire after training at altitude in Arizona during the pre-season and then they smoked St Helens 39-0 with a record World Club Challenge win in England in February.

It seems an eternity ago.

After Maguire guided Souths to their first title in 43 years, the motivation just doesn't look there. There's nothing accusatory in that statement. It is what it is.

Jack Gibson never stayed at a club for more than three seasons, knowing the magic eventually wore off.

Maguire is coming to the end of his fourth season at Redfern, with two seasons left to run.

Time to make a change, for himself as much as Newcastle.