Brisbane Broncos coach Michael Maguire has admitted he’s still trying to work out his spine after the side’s third loss of the season.
The new-look combination of Cory Paix, Ben Hunt, Adam Reynolds and Reece Walsh promised a lot for the Broncos after a demolition job of the Roosters in round one.
However, cracks have appeared since then with Paix moved to the bench for Saturday’s clash with the Warriors and Hunt having a below-par match for his standards.
Late in the second half, Hunt was moved to hooker with Billy Walters playing five-eighth.
The move put the Broncos back in the match, but in the dying seconds, Hunt couldn’t control the ball out of dummy-half and pass to Adam Reynolds, who had set up for a field goal.
The mistake led to a handover and forced the match into golden point which was ultimately won by the Warriors thanks to a Luke Metcalf penalty goal.
Speaking post-match, Maguire was candid in confessing he’s still trying to work out his spine.
“I still am. I’m still learning about the players,” he said.
“We went through some pressure there and things weren’t going our way. I just thought a bit of a change there when Hunty jumped into dummy-half and Billy played at six just added something to us, and you’ve got to find those things.
“There was a lot of fatigue in the game and I felt that subtle little change actually put us back into a position to take the game.
“It was nice to see how the boys adapted to that, but we needed to be smarter earlier in the game to put ourselves in a position to win.”
The Broncos’ spine problem will become more complex when Ezra Mam is available after serving his suspension, while young hooker Blake Mozer is developing well in Queensland Cup.
Walsh also hasn’t been at his best this season and picked up a knee injury early on in the match.
Walsh causes injury scare
The fullback did show his class, though, setting up a try and scoring his own to get the Broncos back in the match.
Maguire admitted there was an issue for Walsh.
“He’s done something to his knee. It was a real credit to him to fight through the game. There is something we need to have a look at; we need to get a scan around that,” he said.
“He fought right through the whole game with that issue so we’ll have to wait and see if he’s right to play over the next couple of weeks.”
