Broncos CEO Dave Donaghy says Reece Walsh and Brisbane stars aren’t in charge, backs Michael Maguire to lead a Red Hill revolution

Brisbane legend Gorden Tallis last week gave the club an uppercut by claiming Reece Walsh runs the Broncos. Now Brisbane boss Dave Donaghy has hit back at suggestions player power reigns at Red Hill.

Brisbane boss Dave Donaghy has hit out at suggestions of a player led power struggle and is backing Michael Maguire’s coaching methods to deliver a seventh premiership at the Broncos.

In a wide-ranging interview with this masthead, Donaghy vowed to deliver on a blueprint that makes Brisbane a perennial premiership force, declaring the Broncos are not satisfied with a “sugar hit” of success.

The Broncos were labelled a club in crisis following six losses in seven games, but last week’s 44-14 rout of the Titans has slightly eased the pressure valve amid talk of player unrest with Maguire at Red Hill.

The Titans win moved Brisbane into eighth spot on percentages, giving the Broncos a platform to launch a late-season charge to the top four after the conclusion of Origin II this Wednesday night.

“If we’re fair dinkum, we want a seventh premiership,” Donaghy said.

Broncos CEO Dave Donaghy (right) has hit back at suggestions Reece Walsh (left) runs the club.

PLAYER POWER

Broncos legend Gorden Tallis launched a stinging attack on the club last week. He scoffed at reports the Broncos might sanction Reece Walsh over his social-media post showing him punching his best mate with boxing gloves on, saying: “They are not doing anything to him ... Reece Walsh runs that club.”

Donaghy, who stepped into the CEO’s hot seat in 2021, addressed a perception Broncos players are ‘rock stars’ who run the show.

“That’s simply not the case,” he said.

“Like any club, we have a senior leadership group that has a level of input into the football program.

“But at the end of the day, the players don’t run the club. We have a highly-credentialed board in place and as CEO, it’s my responsibility to make decisions on the running of the Broncos organisation.

“The players have been fantastic. There is total buy-in here. Not one player is disrespectful of the organisation. I was proud of the guys for the way they performed against the Titans last week, but we’re not getting carried away. There’s more work to be done.”

CULTURE CLUB

Donaghy is acutely aware of the mounting pressure on the Broncos. It’s been almost two decades since Brisbane last won the premiership in 2006. A whole generation of Broncos stars failed to fill the empty plinth sitting in Brisbane’s opulent $27 million high-performance centre.

Donaghy has seen and tasted success. He was CEO when the Storm won two titles in 2017 and 2020. There is a view Broncos players are too pampered at the richest club in the league that turned over $81 million last season, but Donaghy says he and Brisbane bosses are not blind to the club’s challenges.

“Look, we’re on a path — and we know the path that we’re on,” he said.

“We’re chasing our seventh NRL premiership and we’re in pursuit of our fourth NRLW premiership.

“As a team and as a club, we’ve got to evolve.

The Broncos are trying to emulate Penrith’s premiership success.

“From where I sit, our football program is very thorough. In time it will be up there with the best. But we also know that Melbourne and Penrith have been the benchmark for a long time, and our challenge is not to have a sugar hit.

“We need to push ourselves and really strive to improve right across the board. If we are chatting about wanting to have sustainable success and wanting to challenge the benchmark clubs in the comp, like Melbourne and Penrith, we need to get better.

“We’re not complacent. But it’s about trying to get sustainable success, because roller-coasters are fun at the theme parks, but not so much in the NRL industry.”

THE COACH

Brisbane parted ways with Kevin Walters last season, just two years after he led the Broncos to a grand final, following an independent review of the club.

Walters had another two years to run on his deal and Brisbane have been criticised for pulling the trigger prematurely, but Donaghy says the Maguire regime needs time to implement a title-winning bedrock.

“With the Broncos, there’s always a lot of noise around the club,” he said.

“But inside the club, it was very calm. Our discussions were about the people inside these walls are the ones that have the responsibility to get the job done whether that’s on or off field and really, they’re the only people that can plot our course for this year.

“We had a really strong win in round 1 against the Roosters (winning 50-14) and everyone got excited, but I think we always felt it was going to take a little while to bed down a new program.

“We’ve had a clunky patch, we’ve been able to see some of the pressure points within the organisation, and we’re committed to sticking tight, sticking together and working through that as a collective.”

Kevin Walters was sacked just two seasons after steering Brisbane to a grand final.

Donaghy says Maguire, who broke Souths’ 43-year title drought in 2014, is a proven performer at every level.

“I like the way that he’s come in,” the Broncos coach said.

“When you think it’s been 19 years since our last premiership, I can certainly understand that level of hunger.

“We’ve asked him to come in and do a job, and it’s a tough job, but I love the way that he’s jumped into it head first. He’s worked tirelessly to connect with his playing group and showing real care.

“People don’t see this side, but ‘Madge’ has gone about learning about our football club and the history of it. He’s spent plenty of time with some of the founders. He’s reached out to a lot of the Old Boys just to get a sense for where the club was born out of, what its spirit is, and how he can potentially look to tap into that to inspire the current crop of players.

“He’s had a longstanding track record of successful programs wherever he’s been. He’s had success at club level, and success at state level. He’s had success internationally. He’s not afraid to push the status quo and to challenge methods.

“I think that level of challenge will help take people outside of their comfort zone. Ultimately, when you do that, you grow, and you should be growing as individuals and growing as a team and as a club.”

THE DRESSING ROOM

Maguire has been buffeted by speculation that Broncos players are unhappy with being overtrained and pushed to breaking point. Donaghy claims the opposite is occurring and says Brisbane stars are relishing Maguire’s desire to instil a harder edge.

“No, I don’t see it (unrest) at all,” he said.

“I think when you look back on the past month and you look at every single one of our players in the leadership group, they have said publicly they’re really enjoying the environment. They’re enjoying each other’s company. They’re enjoying his company. They’re enjoying the program.

Donaghy says coach Michael Maguire (right) can deliver long-term success at Red Hill.

“The head coach is without doubt the most important person in your football program, but it’s the program that goes in and around it as well. There’s a lot of factors that go into the success of a football program, and at times our club can be a big beast with its own pressures, so we certainly don’t take that lightly in terms of the impact that it can have on some people.

“But there’s no issues from the playing group. They are on board. If you look at the support for Madge and our expectations here, it’s our senior players who are saying it and driving it.”

SELWYN SHOCK

Maguire dropped a bombshell at the Broncos last week by sensationally axing Selwyn Cobbo for last week’s clash against the Titans. It is understood Maguire wants Cobbo to work harder and get outside his comfort zone. The Queensland Origin star remains off-contract, but Donaghy is hopeful Cobbo will be at the Broncos in 2026.

“All of us would love nothing more than to see Selwyn at his absolute peak,” he said.

Selwyn Cobbo is fighting for his future at the Broncos.

“We want to see Selwyn’s best because he is a genuine favourite with the fans.

“He hasn’t been there of late, but none of us have given up on him.

“We’ll keep working with Selwyn to give him all the encouragement and whatever he needs to try and get him back there.

“Selwyn at his peak is only going to help the squad.”

REECE LIGHTNING

Donaghy was bitterly disappointed with superstar fullback Walsh after his recent social-media post. Just a week later, Walsh then called a reporter a clown following criticism over his good mate and Broncos five-eighth Ezra Mam.

Walsh has the biggest social-media following in the code, north of half-a-million fans, but Donaghy is adamant the 22-year-old is not a problem child. He believes Walsh has the competitive drive to pilot Brisbane to a seventh title.

“We spoke on a number of occasions through that period,” Donaghy said of Walsh’s off-field dramas.

“When he reflected on it, he was genuine in his remorse at the post. We’re all human. We all make mistakes. His mistakes are just because of who he is and what he does and he’s following.

“It’s just going to be a lot more public than Joe Public in the streets.

Donaghy says Reece Walsh is hungry to deliver a premiership to the Broncos.

“But Reece is certainly maturing. He continues to grow both as a player and as a man.

“We still need to be mindful that he’s 22 and he’s got a lot of potential distractions around him. We just want to ensure that when he’s at the footy club, he’s got the best possible environment to play at the highest level. His ceiling is a lot higher than most. We know that if he’s in a good space, the team will be in a good space.

“He is super competitive. He is right up there with the greatest players that I’ve seen in this game. He’s also a real football head. He watches a lot of footy. He lives, breathes, eats it.

“As a result of that, he’ll be constantly learning and he’ll constantly want to learn because he wants to get better.

“You see that in the way that he approaches his craft at the club and how he talks about the game and his own personal evolution.

“I don’t think any Broncos fan should have any concerns over his commitment to this club and his commitment to winning.”

Originally published as Broncos CEO Dave Donaghy says Reece Walsh and Brisbane stars aren’t in charge, backs Michael Maguire to lead a Red Hill revolution