‘Maybe you’re the problem’: Brandon Smith savages Broncos players

Brandon Smith has taken aim at Brisbane Broncos players as reports emerged players had raised concerns about Michael Maguire.

Brandon Smith said if any players are complaining about Michael Maguire’s “intense” style they may be the “problem”, not the Broncos coach.

Maguire’s coaching philosophy has been a topic of conversation in the NRL for a number of years now, with Brisbane’s latest form slump leaving some to question whether he needs to change his ways.

FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every game of every round in the 2025 NRL Telstra Premiership, LIVE with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer.

The Daily Telegraph’s Paul Crawley said on NRL 360 on Tuesday night that Maguire “has to change” but Smith, who played under the former Tigers and Rabbitohs coach as a New Zealand Māori representative, pushed back on that.

Speaking on James Graham’s ‘The Bye Round’ podcast, Smith was asked to draw on his experiences with Maguire as a coach and admitted even he had “issues” with his approach.

“It’s a tough one. I also had the issues with Madge and other players had issues with Madge,” Smith said, adding there were “personality clashes” and that the difficulty of training was a particular sore point for some players.

That was especially true, Smith explained, given the nature of Kiwis camp under previous coaches.

“But when you’re in Kiwis it’s different. You feel like a tour, it’s different to being in an NRL team with a full-time coach and they were hard trainings compared to our other tours,” Smith said.

Brandon Smith and Michael Maguire.

While it may have been difficult at first, Smith went on to explain that once some of the resistant players came to embrace Maguire’s style they started to see success on the field.

“I feel like once we got over the time under Madge, once I and other players got over that and bought into what he was trying to do with us and really bit the bullet and did everything, no complaints, that’s when we started to elevate as a team,” Smith said.

“Maybe that’s what needs to go on at the Broncos. Maybe a few of them haven’t bought into what Madge is about and instead of seeing what the benefits are you’re looking at the negative side of things and that happens in every rugby league team.

“Say you’re training a long day, you’re upset at the coach for that and then you grow this little bit of resentment towards the coach. That happened with me with Madge at the Kiwis.

“It was hard until you grow that little bit but once you finally f***ing go, ‘I’m actually getting paid well to do this... it’s not that hard that I’m going to die. It’s just hard compared to what the norm was’. I reckon that’s exactly what’s going on at the Broncos. But that’s just my opinion and I feel like not all of them have bought into what he’s about.”

Broncos legend Gorden Tallis said on Tuesday night that if anyone should be under pressure for the club’s inconsistent start to the season it should be the people who hired Maguire, although there has been plenty of scrutiny on the Brisbane coach too.

But Smith said the blame should squarely be on any dissenting players.

Maguire isn’t all to blame. Picture NRL photos

“I’m going to put it on the players. You’re complaining about what your coach is teaching you,” Smith said.

“He’s your f***ing coach. He’s your coach for a reason. You’ve got to buy into what his system is.

“If you’ve got half the people buying in and half the people not, your team’s not going to function properly... I don’t know if this is going on but I’m speaking from experience.

“You’ve got half the team complaining about him and you’ve got half the team really excited they’ve got a new coach that wants to win.”

And if there is one thing Maguire wants to do, according to Smith, it is win.

“If (there’s) anything that Madge is, he’s a f***ing competitor,” the Rabbitohs hooker said.

“He hates losing. He’s a hard bastard, he’s an intense man but at the end of the day, his goal aligns with your goal in winning games... his method of winning games is taking the hard route and if you’re not buying into that hard route, you’re not with the team. You’re not being team mentality.”

Smith said the players need to take accountability. NRL PHOTOS

Smith said that Kiwis training sessions would be “longer” than normal, typically running between two and two-and-a-half hours, adding that they were also “way more physical”.

That included the captain’s run, which Smith also said was “harder and longer than normal”.

“Everything is tailored for you to be hard,” he added.

“... He wants people to man up and some people don’t. I’ll be honest, I probably don’t sometimes.

“I don’t think he’s doing that at the Broncos. I think this is a special set of circumstances.”

Phil Rothfield reported last week that some players held concerns regarding Maguire’s training methods, with Martin Taupau granted an early release after he ‘liked’ an Instagram post criticising the Broncos coach.

While it is unclear how many more unhappy players there may be, Smith had a simple message for anyone who didn’t agree with Maguire’s ways.

“Coming from where I’ve come from, I can’t fathom that. Players, we shouldn’t have any say on what the coach does... if you’re speaking up about that maybe you’re the problem,” he said.

“That’s how I feel. I would never, ever in my wildest dreams imagine anyone at Melbourne or anyone at Roosters or anyone at the Bunnies right now having a voice or an opinion in who’s coaching the side. That’s not up to you and that just tells me a lot. These are all spectacles but we’re playing for the team.

“... If this is what they’re going through and they do shift that mentality they will flourish.”

Originally published as ‘Maybe you’re the problem’: Brandon Smith savages Broncos players