Michael Maguire confident of achieving premiership success at the Brisbane Broncos

Michael Maguire is reaching the end of his first pre-season at the Brisbane Broncos, the polarising coach opens up to PETER BADEL about his reputation for ruthlessness, dealing with Ezra Mam and expectations for 2025.

Coaching the Broncos is one of the toughest jobs in Australian sport.

Just one coach, Wayne Bennett, has won premierships at the club and it’s been 19 years since Brisbane have lifted the NRL trophy. Club legend Kevin Walters was sacked last season. Now Michael Maguire is the man in the hot seat and he tells Peter Badel why he is relishing a Red Hill revolution.

Peter Badel: Apparently you are a workaholic.

Michael Maguire: (Laughs) Who told you that? I will let you form that opinion, but let’s just say I enjoy doing what I do. I love coaching. I see myself as a career coach. I’m loving it here at the Broncos already.

PB: Did you ever think you would coach the Broncos?

MM: No I didn’t, I must say. Was it a team I was envious of? Definitely. You have support and it’s a massive club with so much history. It never crossed my mind, but I did always look across at what everyone has up at the Broncos and being part of it. When I first went into the Broncos building, I’d never seen anything like it. The staff were all working away, that’s the enormity of the Broncos and why I’ve always been attracted to coaching a club of this size. I don’t see pressure at all. I see the opportunity that comes with coaching such a great club.

Michael Maguire has opened up on his vision for the Broncos. Picture: Supplied

PB: Wayne Bennett is the only coach to have won a Broncos premiership. What would it mean to emulate Bennett and bring the NRL trophy back to Brisbane?

MM: It’s a good question. It would be unreal, absolutely unreal. That’s why I do this job. We have an enormous supporter base, we have families and partners involved and I’ve felt success before as a coach. I think I know what it takes to get success. I have a style to get it. When you win a premiership, they are memories you will have for the rest of your life and that’s what sport does for you. I can see the passion the Broncos Old Boys had during the golden age and we want to bring that back here. For these guys to do it ... it will give them a bond for life.

PB: The bookies have Brisbane third favourites to win the comp behind only Penrith and Melbourne. Is a top-four spot a minimum objective?

MM: We will continually chase getting to the top. Whether you are top four, top two ... we are chasing the best and I want to show this team can be in that space with Melbourne and Penrith. But we have to make sure we are prepared to do the work. I have high expectations and there will be discipline in what we do. How you turn up is very important. That’s the professional part of being a rugby league player at this level.

PB: Speaking of work, Broncos players have been vomiting in bins and nearly passing out in pre-season. You are viewed as a ruthless taskmaster. Do you enjoy that tag?

MM:I love the reputation. It doesn’t bother me at all, because my players know who I am and know what we do together. As long as my players and staff know the real me, then I don’t really worry what people say about me. I have been fortunate to work with some of the best players in the game and I have seen them succeed through what we are doing right now, so if I can get my guys to be like that, I will be happy with that. That stuff (players vomiting) happens everywhere. Honestly. Every top sportsperson is going to be stressed at some stage and if it creates a bit more lactate in their body and you have drunk too much water, well it comes out of your system and you keep going. It’s just water. I do have a bit of a chuckle to myself because all the top teams that train at the highest level in any sport, you are hearing and seeing the same thing. If we aren’t doing it, we aren’t where we need to be.

PB: Within two weeks of being announced Broncos coach you were confronted by the Ezra Mam car-crash scandal. How have you handled it?

MM: It wasn’t ideal. We all understand the enormity of that. It happened and in that moment in time I had to deal with it. It’s very important we all take ownership. I don’t want to downgrade the situation at all. It’s a very serious situation, but I also want to provide the pathway forward for Ezra and the club.

Michael Maguire pictured at Brisbane Broncos training in January. Picture: John Gass

PB: Mam checked out of rehab and went straight to work on a building site. He’s now back at training. How is he coping?

MM:I have spoken to him quite a bit. He is working on himself and he’s getting a reality check in the workforce. He is realising what he has got when you have to go and do a hard day’s work. That’s part of him having an experience of how special football is. He has gone through rehab and learnt a lot about himself. He’s taken responsibility by going to work and getting the real experience of what you do in life if you didn’t have football. He is growing.

PB: There was a push for Brisbane to sack Ezra. You backed him. Can he fight back?

MM: That will be up to him. People face adversity every day. It tests their character and people have to deal with the situations they have been through. No doubt he will do that and it will be up to him to decide how his career will look moving forward. Everyone in life faces a challenge and it’s up to Ezra now to respond to this challenge. Plenty of people in life go through tough situations. You can always bounce back if you choose to and you do it the right way. I’ve spoken to him a number of times and he is keen to make amends, very much so.

PB: There is a view the Broncos went off the rails last season because their players are rock stars. Do you agree with that? Do the players need a harder edge?

MM: I’m not going to judge anyone. Look, I haven’t seen that side of things with the players. What I will say is perceptions are built, but you can change perceptions with what you do. What we get to build now is where we want to take the club and how we want to shape the club. I know they all care because I’ve had conversations with them and they all care very deeply for the Broncos. Already in pre-season, I’ve seen the players buy-in and have a crack. They’re very hungry. So the opportunities for success will be in front of them if they’re prepared to do the work as a team. It’s on everyone at this club. There’s a lot of good men here but we have to back it up. When things are wrong, we need to pull people up. I’ve had success at other clubs. I know what it looks like and it involves hard work as a group.

Michael Maguire pushed for a ‘shirts on’ policy at Red Hill. Picture: Adam Head

PB: What’s your view of Broncos players walking around training shirtless. Have you banned that?

MM: It’s not so much the no shirts, but it’s more about appreciating our sponsors. That’s the big part of it for me. We have great sponsors who put a lot of money into this club so we have to respect that. That’s part of why you wear your gear and should be proud to wear our gear. We should be proud to have that Broncos badge on our chest, but it’s also acknowledging the sponsors that put money into the team, respecting their brands as well. It’s not so much about whether the guys have shirts off, it’s more respecting the people that look after us.

Michael Maguire pictured taking his first training session at the Broncos. Picture: Nigel Hallett

PB: The Broncos are the richest club in the league but haven’t won anything for two decades. Is the club working hard enough?

MM: Well, when you look at Penrith right now, they have that connection and I’ve seen it across all the successful teams. I’ve worked with a number of those Penrith guys in the NSW Origin team and seeing it close up, there’s a reason why the Panthers have had such remarkable success. I see the work they do. I see how they have each other’s backs out on the field. The will of the player is always of their choosing. I’ve been lucky enough to work with Payne Haas (Broncos prop) in the NSW team and I can tell you now - Payne has got the makings of a number of those great Broncos players from the 1990s. There’s going to be many more of those within this Broncos squad I will have right now. Ultimately, it’s about what they are prepared to do together ... I want us building something special to be there playing in October.

PB: The Broncos Old Boys can have a powerful voice. Gorden Tallis has taken aim at you. Are you worried about their influence being an ‘outsider’ from Canberra?

MM: Not at all. The Old Boys that I have been around since I’ve been up here, all they want is their team to succeed. The Old Boys won premierships. They earnt the right. But one thing I know is when the Broncos succeed, they are happy. That’s what it’s all about: getting the team going and watching it, because if we get success, it will bring back all the great memories they had in that Broncos jersey.

Originally published as Michael Maguire confident of achieving premiership success at the Brisbane Broncos