'I love what I do': Rabbitohs coach Michael Maguire. Credit:Mark Metcalfe Players were exhausted. Players wanted out. And then, in October, two players were rushed to hospital from a prescription drug overdose and lay in St Vincent's Hospital in an induced coma. Aaron Gray and Dylan Walker came out the other side, but it left an impression on the coach. "We learnt a lot from last year," says Maguire. "I learnt a lot from Aaron Gray and Dylan Walker. I learnt how much I actually care about my players. And the reason why is because it hurts. It's not nice to see two of the young men you coach go through that.

"You learn a lot from being in the positions I've been in. I would never have thought I would ever be in that position. Never, ever thought it. That I would have two of my young players in that position. What I can do now is ensure people learn a lot from that – for all parents. For all parents, what I've learnt about is that prescription drugs are used for fun and we [society, not Souths] have an issue." Rabbitohs players Dylan Walker and Aaron Gray speak to the media at St Vincents Hospital following their overdose. Credit:Daniel Munoz Maguire tells you this in a quiet corner of a Coogee cafe before his side's first home game of the season at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night. If the Rabbitohs' opening round execution of the Roosters is anything to go by, the Knights will be roadkill before most have found their seats. The 42-10 win prompted fans and commentators to dismiss various reports/columns/whispers from last season that painted a bleak picture of a divided club. "Winning is the best way to dispel rumours of unrest in the camp," wrote Fairfax Media columnist Phil Gould following the first-round win. "The Rabbitohs could not have been more emphatic with the message they delivered on Sunday. They are together and they are ready for action."

Rugby league hums with gossip and innuendo, all year round. Some would argue it hurts the game. It hurts clubs. In truth, rival football codes privately dream about the notoriety the NRL generates. But not every reporter deals in "rumour" nor what they read on Twitter nor what might be overheard at the Cloey. Last year, I wrote regularly about what was happening at Souths. It wasn't based on rumour or what someone told me at the pub. Players will trot out prosaic quotes at all-in media conferences with cameras and mikes thrust in their face, denying "all this talk" about player unrest and "we don't know where this stuff comes from". A day earlier, they were confirming every word you've written. That was the case at South Sydney last season, and even during the season when they won the premiership.

Sure, Maguire cares about his players. I'm yet to find a coach who actually doesn't. Some just care more than others. But there is little dispute he also works them harder than most, too. Last year, all the noise about Maguire "wearing us down" came directly from some players. It's easy to take their side. But sometimes we should consider the coach's perspective. Maguire's unyielding methods in 2014 elevated Souths to a long-awaited premiership. It was the best thing to happen to footy since the Knights made us forget about Super League for a week or so with their ARL grand final win over Manly in 1997. When Maguire adopted those same methods again last year, players who suddenly had a premiership ring on their finger, who had become eastern suburbs rockstars in the space of an off-season, suddenly weren't so keen to do it all again. So fractures appeared.

I ask Maguire if any players confronted him to explain training was hard, his methods too tough. "No," he says. "Never." How does he respond to the claims that his players were "worn out"? That he'd "lost the dressing-room"? That he was "on the outer"? "OK. How can I best answer that for you? At the end of the day, whether that's chatter or not, the reality of being able to get continued success is you have to work hard. That's reality. Twelve months prior we were doing similar things." Was it hard to get the players to buy in again after winning the premiership?

"We didn't have to get 'buy in' again. From the start of the season, I was happy with where we were travelling. When you have a few key figures on the sidelines, people are going to make all their own assumptions and chatter, but my big thing is where we are right now. That's done. My players ... I'm happy with where they are at the moment. That's the past." Will he change his coaching style? "No." Does he have to change his coaching style? "Not at all. I am who I am. My players work really hard with me to achieve what I want to achieve this weekend."

The deepest fracture at Souths during the off-season was the argument between Hollywood co-owner Russell Crowe and five-eighth Luke Keary following a drinking session at Crowe's Nana Glen property last December. We'll keep the sordid details to a minimum, but in summary: Souths players had just completed a three-day training camp on the north coast; Crowe and team bonded at the property's own pub, The Blind Rabbit; in the early hours, the actor made some frank observations about the performance of some players during the 2015 season; Keary leapt to their defence, turning on Crowe and teammate Sam Burgess for not sticking up for them, too; Crowe kicked Keary out; Keary called a cab, which is almost impossible to find at Nana Glen at 2.30am. From an outsider's perspective, the story is 24-carat gold. I mean, a tiny little playmaker standing up to the Gladiator? Apart from Eric Watson (the Warriors owner who brawled with Crowe in a London restaurant in 2002) and a couple of angry lions in the Colosseum, how many have actually taken Rusty on? We can laugh but Maguire sees the incident for what it really is – not much. "Moments in time like the Nana Glen incident are such a small point that gets portrayed in a big way," he explains. "That was an incredible camp. It will be a camp that I will remember for a long time. Two people have grown by what they've been through, in Keary and Russ, and I'm looking forward to those two enjoying what's ahead."

So what about this other rumour about Keary wanting out? That he won't be re-signed? Do you want him? "Definitely, without a doubt. Luke Keary grew into who he is today at this club. He's a kid hungry for success. He's still a big part of what we do today. I want that to be as long as we can. All this speculation about his future isn't Luke. Whatever happened in Nana Glen has been blown out of proportion." Luke Keary is wanted at the club, says Michael Maguire Credit:Getty Images Maguire's pragmatism comes from his upbringing, as the second youngest of six children raised as a farming family in Canberra. When his father Patrick had to move off the land, he started driving taxis. "From there, he worked seven days a week to get his family through," Maguire says. "That's where I get my work ethic from. My old man ended up buying a taxi. He only knew farming, so when he moved off the land he didn't know which way to go. He bought a taxi and from Monday to Thursday he worked from 6am to 6pm, and then on Friday it was from 6am to 4am. And then all Saturday and Sunday. There was a fair work ethic needed to do that. I've never seen anyone work harder than my old man. And I've gotta say Mum, too."

In Maguire's book A Year To Remember following his grand final success, he reveals – although, without trying – the unseen loneliness and responsibility a coach shoulders. The same people within and on the fringes who spoke about player unrest last year speak now about the coach wearing himself out. Tell him that and he shrugs if off. "I'm more excited than ever," he says. "I love what I do. I love what I'm doing right now. I guess everyone can wear out at some stage … Do I sound like someone who is struggling?" No. But you could wear out eventually.

"Never." Jesus. You are a coach. "I don't see it like that. I have a great bunch of boys … The rewards you get back, through the players you work with … I've seen Greg [Inglis] grow as a person. There's not many people who get to do that. I've watched Sam [Burgess] run to the other side of the world and come back and love being back in rugby league. I've seen Cam McInnes battling with Damien Cook at training every single day." Michael Maguire says he has seen Greg Inglis grow as a person. Credit:Getty Images And after the win over the Roosters last week, everything is sweet, anyway.

"We don't forget," says Maguire. I ask him again what that means, and he just says it again. "We don't forget." What's been written? Criticism? Perception? What? "We've learnt the importance of what we do," he continues. "It plays a big part in the community, friends, family … I have great role models and leaders at this club. The influence they have on a lot of people. I get to see what we do. There isn't one of our players who wouldn't help another person. It would be nice if that was portrayed. You can control the criticisms by how you are and how you respond. What I see is what they're doing on and off the field, that's the real stuff that happens daily."

They are the unseen moments that don't make the papers but define a club. On Wednesday, a woman approached the players following a training session at Redfern Oval. She revealed she was suffering from brain cancer. She posed for photos with each player, and at the end of the line was the coach. In 2010, her specialist told her she had a year to live. But she's still around, thanks to her Bunnies. "These players," she told Maguire, "keep me alive."

"That's her team," he says. "That stuff is real. People ask about pressure, but that puts some perspective into what you're doing. There is more to footy than just results."