Rockstars, Reece and big recruit problems: Inside Madge’s Broncos struggles and his fix
Michael Maguire’s arrival in Brisbane was never going to be an overnight fix, but it’s been a more frustrating start than most anticipated.
The Broncos are genuine premiership contenders but they’re currently staring down the battle of three straight losses after stuttering in recent weeks.
Concerningly, it doesn’t appear to be teething problems but rather their stars underperforming.
Gun recruit Ben Hunt had arguably the worst game of his career in Auckland last weekend when the Warriors won as heavy outsiders.
Rivals have done their homework on Reece Walsh and in turn the fullback has struggled to break open games in his usual fashion.
While it’s tough to fault one of the best players in the NRL, Pat Carrigan’s move to the front-row hasn’t been the roaring success Maguire was hoping for.
The Broncos have started every game this season as favourites but they’ve won just four of seven which is exactly where they were 12 months ago under Kevin Walters.
But all that will be forgotten if they knock off the unbeaten Bulldogs in a Suncorp Stadium blockbuster on Thursday night.
“Where Canterbury have been great, the Broncos haven’t. If you’re going off defence and form and confidence and belief, they’re world’s apart,” Bulldogs premiership winner Braith Anasta told foxsports.com.au.
“The Broncos are so inconsistent, you don’t know what you’re going to get, you’ve got a premier half, Ben Hunt having his worst game nearly ever last week, he’d have a few question marks himself at the moment and doubting himself a little bit.
“Reece Walsh is out with the PCL injury and they’ve got a new coach. They’re unsettled but they’ve got the team that can beat anyone on their day, so that’s what makes this game so amazing and this contest a real epic encounter.
“We’ve got a team where you just know what you’re going to get and a team where you don’t know but if they turn up on their day they can beat anyone. It really does have the making of an absolute blockbuster.
“Where those teams are psychologically you’d have to tip the Dogs, but you wouldn’t be shocked if there was an upset either.”
HOW REECE LIGHTNING LOST HIS STRIKE
Reece Walsh declared in the pre-season that he wants to become the best player in the NRL.
But fast forward to now and the fullback will be doing well just to hang onto his Queensland jersey, let alone win the Dally M Medal.
The problem with being one of the most talented players in the competition is that rival teams spend countless hours working out how to restrict your impact.
The great players, the ones who win Dally Ms, evolve their game to stay one step ahead of their rivals and keep them guessing.
Maguire has worked hard with Walsh on his defence, which the 22-year-old admits has never been a strength of his.
“I’ve probably been someone who’s relied on talent and those things that come natural to my game, but things that I need to work on are those things that … don’t, I guess, provide skills,” Walsh said.
“But I think it comes back from the hard preseason that we had, a lot of running, a defensive mindset, and that’s something that I’m incorporating in my game – having that defensive mindset on top of that attack.”
But has it come at a cost? Has Walsh neglected evolving the best part of his game to focus on his worst?
Champions always find a way and the injured Walsh will no doubt spend the next month on the sideline working out how to get back to his brilliant best.
OLD ROCKSTAR HABITS DIE HARD
It was a huge call by the Broncos bosses to sack the only coach not named Wayne Bennett that has taken them to a grand final.
Walters had guided Brisbane to the big dance just 12 months earlier, but after a horror 2024 campaign he ruthlessly axed for a proven premiership winner in Maguire.
It’s still early days but if the losses continue, the board who pulled the trigger on Walters for Maguire will be getting nervous.
THE HUNT-MAM LOOMING DILEMMA
It’s a headache most coaches would kill for – how to use Ben Hunt when 2023 Dally M five-eighth of the Year Ezra Mam comes back into the side.
“I think a lot will depend on how Hunt performs in the next few weeks,” he said.
“If Hunt doesn’t go to another level, they probably move him to No. 9 and you have Ezra at five-eighth.
“Reece is out for 4-6 so a lot will depend on when he comes back. They could even play Ezra at fullback.
“They’ll be hoping (Selwyn) Cobbo plays well at fullback and if Ezra was coming back right now, he’d be playing in the halves.
“But if Hunt finds form again they’ll keep them together and you could be Ezra at 14 or fullback if Reece is out. They’ve got plenty of options, but Ezra will come into the team somewhere.”
The Broncos have one of the best packs in the NRL and should be dominating sides through the middle every week.
They are not.
“There’s no way of sugar-coating it, if we’re going to be a successful football team, then your front row have to lay the platform.
“So Payne (Haas) and myself know what comes with that. We both have got to be better, too.
“From my perspective, and I’m sure Payne will tell you the same, it just comes with the role (of being enforcers) and we know what we have to deliver, so we’ve got to deliver it this Thursday.”
WHY THEY CAN STILL WIN IT ALL
It was always going to be tough adjusting to a new coach and without one of their best players – Mam – for the opening nine weeks.
But if they can get to the Origin period sitting inside the top six then Maguire’s men absolutely have what it takes to win a drought-breaking premiership.
They’re still one of the NRL’s most stacked rosters on paper and they’d much rather be going through these growing pains at this end of the season.
It’s telling that despite their opposite starts to the season, most pundits still rate the Broncos a bigger premiership threat than the Bulldogs.
Maguire knows what it takes to win a title, he’s got the cattle and there’s still plenty of time to iron out their chinks and get this side humming for September.
