Inside Michael Maguire’s Brisbane Broncos cultural overhaul and captaincy conundrum

Michael Maguire is ramping up the much-needed cultural overhaul at the Broncos, with the next three days set to prove pivotal to their aspirations for the 2025 season.

Michael Maguire has ramped up his cultural overhaul of Brisbane with the Broncos to embark on a three-day leadership camp that could play a decisive role in the club’s captaincy race.

The Broncos will depart Red Hill on Monday morning for a secret location west of Brisbane where they will train, bond and enhance their leadership skills.

It is less than a month until the Broncos take the field for three pre-season trial matches which will be crucial hit-outs under a new coach.

After taking over from Kevin Walters following last year’s disappointing 12th-place finish, Maguire has been impressed with Brisbane’s efforts since pre-season training started in early November.

The Broncos have looked sharp on the training paddock, as they should with one of the NRL’s most stacked squads and a relatively healthy list.

Brisbane Broncos best 17.

But Maguire is determined for the Broncos to rediscover the culture that made the club a powerhouse in the 1990s and early 2000s, clinching six premierships up until 2006.

Part of that mission is to upskill the leadership qualities of the team, which will be a focus of this week’s camp.

The future of Adam Reynolds’ captaincy is also under the microscope with Maguire yet to commit to retaining the same leadership model.

Dragons recruit Ben Hunt, Kangaroos star Pat Carrigan and NSW Origin forward Payne Haas are other potential leadership options if Maguire opts to shake up Brisbane’s captaincy.

Maguire said he was happy with how his first pre-season in charge of Brisbane was progressing but there was a lot to do before the round 1 clash with the Roosters on March 6.

“We’ve got plenty of work to do,” he said.

“The players have committed to everything we’ve done, which has been pleasing.

“We’ve got a really important month now to put more work into us, decide how we’re going to play and come up with our combinations.

“Prior to the Christmas break I felt the players were buying into the training and creating a competitiveness around what we’re doing which has been really pleasing.

“I’ve been really happy. The group knows they’ve got to do the work, which has been the pleasing part.

“When the playing group owns what they need to do the way they have, that’s pretty handy for what we’re trying to create.

“I’ve really enjoyed coaching them, they are a bloody good group to coach.”

Working in Maguire’s favour is he has close to a full complement of healthy players on deck.

Michael Maguire has been happy with his new team’s attitude. Picture: John Gass

Reynolds is on the comeback from neck surgery post-Christmas but has been running and is expected to be fit for the trials.

Five-eighth Ezra Mam has been hit with a nine-game suspension for his drug driving car crash but rejoined the team at training last week along with Hunt, who has returned to Red Hill after leaving in 2017.

Maguire has watched the Broncos closely in recent years and is well aware of the talents at his disposal.

But the players’ efforts over the pre-season, including this week’s camp, will play a decisive role when it comes to finalising his leadership model and round 1 team.

“I will judge it based on how they’re training. I know how they can play,” he said.

“There’s been a lot of players within the squad that have developed in different ways. They have been pushing really hard daily to get the opportunity.

“I’m willing to give those guys the opportunity if they are doing the things we are building within the team.”

The Broncos will play their first trial match against the Burleigh Bears on February 8 before NRL Pre-season Challenge fixtures against the Titans (February 16) and Bulldogs (February 22).