‘That’s garbage’: After 24 weeks of positivity, Maguire shows his fury

It took 24 weeks and three minutes, but Michael Maguire had finally had enough. This may have just been the eeriest press conference of the two-time premiership coach’s tenure at the Broncos.

And after what his side dished out in their 40-6 humbling at the Warriors’ hands on Saturday night, he could not be blamed.

Even as the losses piled up in 2026 to leave the defending champions languishing in second-last place with a 6-15 record, Maguire had publicly been a staunch advocate for his squad.

Throughout an injury crisis that at one stage had their casualty ward overflowing with 15 players, he constantly backed his troops to turn the tide and bleed for the jersey.

He responded calmly to journalists’ questions, and pleaded for fans to feel assured the work on the training paddock would eventually reap rewards.

That all changed after Brisbane’s latest Suncorp Stadium implosion.

“It’s not good enough. We won’t want to do that next weekend,” Maguire said.

“We’re not playing the style we know and we practised, and if we don’t do it, we’re not going to get the rewards. We had a team out there [the Warriors] who muscled up and went after us.”

If you were to simply cast an eye over the statistics of the game, the scoreline would come as a shock. Brisbane had 43 sets to the Warriors’ 40, while they finished with a higher tackle efficiency then their rivals (89.14 per cent to 86.74 per cent).

The penalty count was only marginally in New Zealand’s favour (six to five), as were errors (10 to eight). The Broncos led for offloads (10 to four) and forced dropouts (four to zero), and gave away only two ruck infringements to the Warriors’ five.

But there appeared to be a lack of intent from the squad across the park. New Zealand – spearheaded by an engine room of Mitch Barnett (158 running metres), James Fisher-Harris (117 metres) and Erin Clark (126 metres) – packed a punch with every carry.

As Warriors coach Andrew Webster alluded to, they were then supported by the back five, who combined for 729 running metres.

Their goal line defence never faltered – Brisbane only managing to score when Blake Mozer popped a pass for Xavier Willison at close range, despite being tackled 41 times inside the Warriors’ 20-metre zone.

In contrast, New Zealand scored five of their seven tries from just 20 tackles on the Broncos’ line – centres Ali Leiataua and Leka Halasima strolling past soft defence, while Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad was able to latch on to a bomb completely uncontested in the second half alone.

They even lost their halfback, Luke Metcalf, to a hamstring injury after he attempted to convert a try in the 19th minute. Even then, Chanel Harris-Tavita stood up.

From that first answer, Maguire turned up the blowtorch. When skipper Pat Carrigan was asked whether knowing they could no longer make the finals made it difficult to get motivated for each contest, Maguire interjected before he could respond.

“I reckon that’s garbage,” Maguire exclaimed.

“We’re playing a team next week [the Raiders] who are in the same boat. The boys are playing for the Broncos, they’ve got a badge that they wear.

“I’ve normally kept it cool at these things [press conferences], but we need to have a good hard look at ourselves and get into a game we know we can, or we’ll get exactly the same next week.”

Maguire wouldn’t entertain much else. When asked if it had confused him what had gone wrong since lifting the trophy last year, he simply said “no”.

When then asked what had gone wrong, he replied: “I’ll keep that between us.”

Another journalist then suggested fans and members had a right to know what had gone wrong within 12 months, to which Maguire elaborated.

“I appreciate that, but we need to do that with our actions in how we play. I’ve got a group of players there, we know the belief I have in this group, we’ve got to do it,” he said.

Every answer Maguire gave was followed by a lengthy pause that felt far longer than it was.

In a world in which a performance had transpired that Brisbane could be proud of – regardless of the result – other topics may have been covered.

Carrigan sat next to Maguire, and a greater response to last week’s defeat to the Dolphins may have prompted questions to the Queensland Maroons ironman about Billy Slater’s decision to stand down as State of Origin coach.

But this was not the time, the feeling in the air made that clear.

When this reporter asked Maguire if he’d had a chance to assess the severity of a high ankle sprain Reece Walsh suffered after being subjected to a hip-drop tackle, the pause was less than three seconds before Maguire asked for the question to be repeated.

It felt like an eternity as he stared back. He was then asked what he made of the incident that wiped his fullback from the game 19 minutes in, and resulted in Nicoll-Klokstad being sent to the sin bin.

“I’m more concerned about our performance,” Maguire said.

Carrigan was asked about the team’s defensive efforts – having now conceded 30 points or more in eight of their past 13 games. Since tough wins against the Tigers and Bulldogs in rounds seven and eight, Brisbane have won just once – a shock boilover of the Panthers.

“Just stupidity on both sides of the ball, a lack of desire and intent to do the job,” Carrigan lamented.

Maguire was asked one final question: How does he motivate a team buried in the doldrums?

“It’s easy to motivate people when you’re playing for the Broncos. They’re playing for a very good club, so … thanks.”

And with that, after three minutes, Maguire stood up and left the room.

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