Broncos CEO Dave Donaghy: Grand final glory, R360 fears, favouritism accusations and more
Michael Maguire cares about his players. He cares about his staff and it goes far beyond employee-employer relationship. Broncos CEO Dave Donaghy reveals how Maguire turns the cogs at Red Hill.
Broncos boss Dave Donaghy says Brisbane aren’t satisfied with one title and has slammed the Raiders over Canberra’s explosive claims the NRL rigs the draw to suit the newly-crowned premiers.
In an exclusive interview with Code Sports, Donaghy reflected on Brisbane’s fairytale premiership win, the shock pursuit of Cameron Smith and coach Michael Maguire’s burning desire to bring more trophies to Red Hill.
The three-time premiership-winning chief executive also addressed the R360 threat amid fears the rebel rugby competition could not only target champion prop Payne Haas, but other Broncos stars, including Reece Walsh.
Maguire shocked the league by breaking Brisbane’s 19-year premiership drought in his first season in charge and Donaghy hopes the side’s grand final defeat of Melbourne is the springboard to a Broncos dynasty.
“I don’t think we are anywhere near the finished product yet,” Donaghy said.
“I think there is still more upside in the entire club.”
RED HILL REVOLUTION
Brisbane’s recovery has been remarkable. Just five years ago, the Broncos were in crisis, finishing with the wooden spoon for the first time in their decorated history.
Now, they are kings of the league - and queens, with Brisbane’s NRLW side upsetting the unbeaten Roosters on grand-final day to give the Broncos a historic premiership double.
Under the stewardship of Donaghy, who joined the club as CEO in 2021 on the back of their last-placed debacle, the club has made two grand finals in three seasons and has amassed an NRL record revenue of $81 million.
Donaghy made the agonising call to sever ties with coach Kevin Walters last year and appoint Maguire, a decision that produced instant results as ‘Madge’ delivered Brisbane’s first title since 2006.
“Nineteen years was a long time between drinks,” said Donaghy, who oversees 170 employees at the NRL’s glamour club.
“A lot of hard work across the organisation went into it. The resilience we showed, it was such a special moment.
“People see game day and the team on the field. What they don’t see is the blood, sweat and effort that goes into toiling across an entire NRL year from every staff member in the organisation.
“I was fortunate to experience two premierships in Melbourne and I was desperate to play a role in us tasting that because there is no better feeling. But it’s also hard to do. There’s 17 clubs chasing the same goal. Percentage-wise that’s called low percentage and there’s a reason why only a handful of clubs have won the comp over the last decade.
“I’m very thankful we were able to get that monkey off our back. I was also really proud of our women’s program and it was great for them to get back to winning a trophy.”
VIKING SLAP
Raiders boss Don Furner last week claimed the NRL “orchestrates” the draw to favour Brisbane, who play 14 games at Suncorp Stadium next season, including as the ‘away’ team for Magic Round.
Donaghy hit back at the Raiders, accusing Canberra of putting pressure on the NRL this season to give them a Sunday home game for their finals thriller against the Broncos, who won 29-28.
“I don’t know what Canberra are sooking about,” Donaghy said.
“They want to talk about favouritism - our first finals game was moved to Sunday this year at Canberra’s request.
“Then we had a seven-day turnaround compared to Melbourne’s nine-day turnaround leading into the grand final.
“If that’s favouritism, I will give it away. I hope this is the start of another great Canberra-Broncos rivalry.
“The NRL does the draw. Take a look at Sydney-based clubs and see how many times they travel outside of Sydney.
“What’s the difference? Who cares. Move on.”
MIGHTY MADGE
Maguire’s maiden year at Red Hill was far from seamlessly smooth. He walked into the Ezra Mam car-crash scandal in November and by mid-season, when Brisbane had lost six of seven games, the Broncos coach was accused of overtraining players and losing the dressing room.
But Maguire held his nerve to engineer a history-making, late-season premiership charge. Donaghy has been blown away by the coach’s work ethic, passion and desire that has permeated the entire Broncos club.
“I have known Madge for a long time and he is one of the most driven people I have ever met,” Donaghy said.
“He is a tireless worker but he also cares. He cares about his players. He cares about his staff. He puts so much time and effort into them, not just as employees, but as people. You saw that play out in results and you saw it play out in the development of the team.”
Given the title outcome, Brisbane’s board have reason to feel a sense of vindication. Donaghy says that was never his driving force.
“It’s never been about vindication or validation,” he says of critics of Maguire’s appointment.
“There was a moment in time where we felt it was the right thing to do and there’s been many and varied opinions and commentary said about it.
“There’s a lot of opinions in our game and a lot of white noise. People can feel however they can. That’s their right.
“But nobody can deny that Madge has been incredible for this organisation and he has done an outstanding job as head coach. He had wonderful staff around him, too.
“The way that he went about understanding the history of the club and bringing everyone along the journey and not only buying into the Broncos culture, but also enhancing it and pushing a family environment is a credit to him.
“I was always really confident that it would come together, but it wasn’t a straight-forward year, that’s for sure.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
The Broncos go from the hunters to the hunted next season. Bookmakers have already installed Brisbane as favourites to win back-to-back premierships next season and Donaghy is wary of the Broncos dropping their standards.
“We are hungry to keep staying in the fight in 2026 and the coming years,” he said.
“Season 2025 is done now. It was an amazing year, a great thrill. We were good enough to win that competition, but 2026 is a whole new challenge. There’s 17 teams, everyone starts on zero points. For us, the opportunity is to look at how we can challenge ourselves to go to the next level.
“That (going back-to-back) will be determined by how hungry the group is.
“I certainly think we have got some strong pieces in place to compete for trophies. That’s what we want to do. That’s why we brought back the World Club Challenge with Hull KR _ to compete for another trophy so early in the year.
“I get a sense there is not a level of complacency. When you have players like Ezra Mam and Blake Mozer coming back for pre-season a month early, it’s a good sign.”
GROWING PAYNE
The Broncos were rocked by a report a fortnight ago that claimed R360 bosses were confident of winning the signature of Brisbane’s No.1 prop Haas.
Off-contract at the end of next season, Haas has received a new offer from the Broncos, but has yet to sign it. The NSW Origin enforcer has returned home from a family holiday in Fiji and the Broncos want a definitive answer from Haas before Christmas.
“We would love for Payne to stay at the Broncos,” Donaghy said.
“We want him to keep his Broncos journey going and stay in Brisbane for the long term. Payne could be a Bronco for as long as he likes. He is an amazing athlete and he has done an unbelievable job for our footy club and our team and he is only coming into his own now from a leadership point of view.
“Ultimately that (finalising his future) is for Payne and his management to work through.
“We would love to keep him, we hope he stays, and we have done everything we can to convince him. We also need to respect it’s his decision with his family and we will work through it whichever way it goes.”
REECE LIGHTNING
As the hottest property in the NRL at the moment, Walsh - the reigning Clive Churchill Medallist - would be an obvious target for R360. But with Walsh already secured after signing a $4.4 million extension last year, Donaghy would love for the 22-year-old whizkid to be a Bronco for life.
“Reece is another one we would love to keep for the long term,” he said.
“He is currently locked down until the end of 2029 and at some point, when the time is right, we will sit down again and have a conversation around what that looks like moving forward.
“With R360, it’s no different to Japanese rugby or French rugby. This is a new group that has popped up. We have always had competition for athletes and the challenge for us is to look inwards and look at how we can provide the best environment and the best facilities for these guys to compete for trophies.
“People can talk about Reece’s TikTok and YouTube, but watch his press conference after the grand final. You see the depth of Reece Walsh coming through. His growth as a person has been wonderful to see but it doesn’t happen by accident.
“He has been part of an environment that’s been driven by a head coach and senior players that have been really determined to put some strong shape to the behaviours and the standards they wanted to hold themselves accountable to. He is young. He is human. He is going to make a mistake or an error at a point in time, but we can’t hang them all out to dry. We need characters in our game because they bring fans through the turnstiles.
“I was thrilled for Reece this year because all that kid has ever wanted to do was play for the Broncos and win a premiership and he has been able to do that. We are grateful for the contribution he made because he was immense through the back half of the year and through that finals series and again in the grand final.
“He was a very deserving Clive Churchill Medallist. People love watching him do what he does on the field. He is a special player. He is a special young man and we are really proud of him.”
CAM INJECTION
Maguire’s pursuit of Smith could prove the recruitment coup of the 2026 NRL season. The Storm legend has agreed to take on a mentoring role with the Broncos and Donaghy is relishing the prospect of Smith working with the likes of Walsh, Haas, Ezra Mam, Kotoni Staggs and Pat Carrigan.
“All up, I had nine years in Melbourne at the Storm and when I stop and reflect on that, I think back and I had a front-row ticket to a player that in time will go down as the greatest of all time,” Donaghy said.
“He was a terrific leader and he has a huge football brain.
“We have a coach that wants to challenge and evolve and push both the team, the group and his staff. He wants to look outside the square and Cam is someone that can add value to the program. We would be silly not to bring him in. We have some really strong leaders and we have some players that we have identified that can be future leaders.
“To have the opportunity to bounce off not only Madge and ‘Reyno’ (skipper Adam Reynolds) and ‘Hunty’ (Ben Hunt), but someone like Cameron Smith, adds to the program.
“The beauty with Cam is he doesn’t overplay his hand. He is very good at knowing when to weigh in, he always has been, and it’s a great play by Madge to want to bring Cameron in and keep moving the program forward.
“The plan is for him to work with the senior leaders and emerging leaders, just to be an extra set of eyes, a mentor, and it’s great, because at some point Reyno and Hunt will finish up.
“What a great experience for our guys to learn from a legend like Cameron Smith.”
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Originally published as Broncos CEO Dave Donaghy: Grand final glory, R360 fears, favouritism accusations and more
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