For the third year in a row, the Rabbitohs were one game away from the grand final. Chances like those don't arise often and at that stage, at least, the modern Souths supporter was nothing if not a career pessimist.

They had good reason (aside from the whole years of being hopeless, kicked out of the comp etc). Even with a team on the rise under Maguire's driven, hard-nosed stewardship, the speed bumps could look more like mountain ranges. The previous year's defeat at the hands of Manly would be Exhibit A.

Going in as favourites, the Rabbitohs took a 14-0 lead after 11 minutes, only to put the tools down and watch the Sea Eagles race in 30 points of their own without reply. The memories would flood back as Souths faced old rivals the Roosters a year down the track.

This time, to the amazement of diehards who hoped for the best but assumed the worst, there would be no mistake. A 32-22 victory would propel the Rabbits into the decider where, after a testing first half, they would race away with their first premiership in what felt like forever and a day.

Making reality for the dreamers; that stands to be the real legacy of Maguire after he parted ways with the club during the week by the time-honoured "mutual agreement". By all reports, he didn't see the blade descend.

It was a strangely unemotional ending for a man who probably deserved to get carried out on his shield after giving a generation of fans the greatest day of their sporting life. Yet somehow, in the following years, Maguire, his players and the supporters started to drift, while even his most ardent fans would concede that fresh eyes may not be the worst idea at Redfern.

Regardless of the ending, Maguire's tenure at Souths can be deemed nothing but wildly successful. He came to Redfern from Wigan at the end of 2011, who he had just coached to a Challenge Cup victory over Leeds.

Perhaps even more importantly, he arrived with what now seems the gold standard of coaching qualifications: he once served as an assistant to Craig Bellamy at the Melbourne Storm.

The results were almost immediate. After losing three of the first four games of his debut season in charge, Maguire was at the helm of a dramatic change in fortunes. Souths finished third on the ladder in 2012, then missed the grand final by one game, losing to the Bulldogs.

More success came the following season, when they fell one game short once again. The 2014 campaign needs little introduction, concluding with jubilant scenes at ANZ Stadium as 43 years of heartache vanished.

In the aftermath, the slide was gradual, then alarming. Souths would finish seventh in 2015, then 12th in 2016. This season, despite some late signs of form, they would finish 12th again. A 64-6 defeat to Melbourne in the closing rounds showed how far away from the elite teams they had become.

In his place steps former assistant Anthony Seibold, a Rockhampton-bred coach that has played and mentored in all corners of the rugby league globe. At 43, he arrives at the top with a reputation as a progressive thinker, which should be music to the ears of Souths fans that spent large parts of the season banging their head against a brick wall, at tactic familiar to their team.

Those inside the Maroons camp, where Seibold spent time as an assistant to Kevin Walters, say that even without top-line experience, when he speaks, players stop and listen.

Unlike Maguire, who could sometimes appear so tightly wound he was about to uncoil with a sonic boom, Seibold has a reputation as a relaxed character that doesn't always need to take himself too seriously.

But when it comes to footballing matters, he will back his instincts without fail. Exactly what a Souths team looks like under his exclusive guidance should be fascinating, with some key decisions needing to be made as the squad returns for the pre-season.

Greg Inglis will be fit to play but can Seibold stand firm and play him in the centres, instead of fullback? And what to do with new recruit Dane Gagai, who was the best player in this year's Origin series from the wing?

He also needs to find the best position for the dangerous Cody Walker, who appeared to contribute far more in the halves than at fullback. Sam Burgess, meanwhile, must somehow be uncorked to offer more than just a battering ram through the middle of the park.

He gets a clean slate, while the game awaits Maguire's next move. Should he go to the Titans, a job in which he would surely walk into should the money be adequate, he could yet deliver for another of rugby league's most downtrodden supporters.