Whispers had emerged after he was spotted overseas in recent days.
Broncos premiership-winner Michael Maguire has rejected a reported push to become England’s next national coach, declaring he’ll remain in Brisbane. There were reports after the recent Ashes series that England were eyeing Maguire to take over from Shaun Wane after Australia’s 3-0 win.
Maguire has previously coached New Zealand, and led them to a famous win over Australia in the Pacific Championship final in 2023. He also led NSW to State of Origin glory in 2024, and clearly knows how to coach at both rep and NRL level.
A move to join England would most likely mean he’d have to quit as Broncos coach, as club coaches aren’t usually allowed to hold both roles at once. But speaking to The Courier Mail on Saturday, Maguire said that won’t be happening.
“No chance,” Maguire said when asked if he’d consider coaching England. “We have a big season ahead – that’s my focus. You have to keep your head down and keep working and that is part of what I love doing with my players.
“The growth I saw this year with our group has been excellent and the other 16 teams will be hungry to knock us off next season. I’m hungry to get better myself – that’s what this competition demands.”
Maguire is on a three-year deal with the Broncos that expires at the end of 2027. Whispers emerged about his possible interest in the England job when he was spotted in the UK last week, but the truth is he was attending a Sports Performance Summit to try and improve as a coach.
Assistant coach also staying put with Broncos
Maguire’s declaration that he won’t be leaving anytime soon comes after assistant coach Ben Te’o rejected an offer to join the Gold Coast Titans’ staff. Te’o and Trent Barrett were Maguire’s main assistants as they won the club’s first premiership in 19 years.
A former Broncos player, Te’o who won a comp as a player under Maguire at Souths in 2014. He told The Courier Mail last month he’d received interest from new Titans coach Josh Hannay to switch clubs for 2026, but is staying put.
“We’ve got the World Club Challenge and the opportunity to go deep into next year’s finals. They’re the things that motivate me,” he said. “They’re hungry to improve because this was Madge’s first season as coach and my first season with some of my defensive systems. You have to think that second time around it’s going to run a bit smoother and we can really dial into the detail.
“There’s a lot of improvement and we had some hiccups this year which I’d like to think won’t happen second time around. Improvement’s a big thing that we’re all chasing.”
Can the Broncos convince Payne Haas to stay?
The next order of business for the Broncos is trying to convince Payne Haas to stay. The State of Origin star is considering a $3 million offer from R360, which pales in comparison to the $1.2m per season that Brisbane can afford.
Broncos CEO Dave Donaghy said on Friday: “We’ve been pretty clear publicly and privately that we want Payne, we’ll be doing everything we can to keep Payne at the Broncos. We’d love for him to play his whole career there, sometimes that works out, sometimes it doesn’t. He’s always got a home here at the Broncos and we’d love to see that continue.
“We certainly won’t sit back and wait to get picked off. There’s many competitors across the league for talent, you’ve got to ensure you provide the right environment for the players to do so and we’ll keep backing our systems and people to keep the players together and keep the program together. It’s been an interesting talking point.”
