The mountain of Broncos mistakes Madge has climbed… and one stunned us all: McKinnon

The Broncos hit rock bottom in 2020.

The NRL’s glamour club won a wooden spoon and sacked Anthony Seibold mid-season after winning just one of their final 18 games.

A host of big-name stars departed at different stages throughout the year, including Andrew McCullough, David Fifita, Darius Boyd, Isaac Luke and Sean O’Sullivan.

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Ahead of the 2021 season, Kevin Walters was hired as head coach and Dave Donaghy signed on as CEO. Two key recruitments.

But that campaign was a mess, finishing 14th.

During and at the end of that season Tevita Pangai Junior, Matt Lodge, Xavier Coates, Anthony Milford, Alex Glenn, Karmichael Hunt, David Mead, Ben Te’o and Tom Dearden all departed.

A serious amount of talent.

But the biggest name to depart? Reece Walsh, who left mid-year to join the Warriors.

I can tell you right now, anyone working in recruitment at the time was absolutely baffled by that decision.

Walsh had superstar written all over him. It was f*****g bizarre and then he instantly lived up to his billing across the Tasman.

Fast forward to 2022 and Jamayne Isaako, Ethan Bullemor and Brodie Croft were also shoved out the door after the Broncos finished in ninth.

But the building blocks were in place and green shoots emerged.

Payne Haas had emerged as one of the NRL’s best props, Kotoni Staggs and Herbie Farnworth had forged a scary centre pairing.

Pat Carrigan was a long-term No.13, Jordan Riki emerged as a strong back rower, while a host of now important players were being blooded.

Deine Mariner played two games, Ezra Mam featured 13 times, Brendan Piakura got a single game alongside Xavier Willison.

The little general Adam Reynolds arrived and made an instant impact. Green shoots — and during the year

During that season, Brisbane powerbrokers somehow managed to reclaim Walsh, with the Warriors granting him a release on compassionate grounds.

Luckily for the Broncos, he wanted to come back because there were no hard feelings, they allowed him to develop elsewhere in first grade.

He excelled and was welcomed back with open arms.

The risk in letting him go was deemed by many as unacceptable, and it wouldn’t have been let slide at any other club.

To re-cap, Tom Dearden, Xavier Coates, Reece Walsh and David Fifita all left Red Hill.

No other club can let talent of that calibre leave and do what they did in 2023, albeit with Walsh back in their No.1 jersey.

No other club can make so many recruitment mistakes, and still make a grand final within three years of taking home a wooden spoon.

But the core pieces they have retained — Haas, Staggs, Carrigan — allowed them to remain a powerhouse.

If it wasn’t for Nathan Cleary, Walters would have had a premiership under his belt, and from there the departures continued, as is the case for most teams who reach a grand final.

Tom Flegler and Herbie Farnworth joined the Dolphins, while Kurt Capewell and Keenan Palasia also left.

The 2024 season was a blip on their radar, and it resulted in Walters being axed after a 12th-placed finish, with the fatigue of a huge previous campaign catching up to the Broncos.

However, that year made one thing clear to Donaghy and the Brisbane bosses — they needed a new mentor to get over the line.

They had the squad, the junior pathways, the boardroom all right.

Michael Maguire was the final piece of the puzzle, a hard-nosed coach ready to squeeze every bit of talent out of this superstar squad.

The former premiership-winning coach then made some strategic moves, fixing some deficiencies he saw within the squad.

Jack Gosiewski had already signed on, but Maguire gave Gehamat Shibasaki a chance and he has been excellent.

The biggest scalp came in the form of Ben Hunt, who has been an inspired signing and one that has been able to fill the gaping holes left by some key injuries.

‘Madge’ has also given Cory Paix and Kobe Hetherington important roles, while making big selection decisions, especially in the backline.

Hetherington was tested as a starting No.13, but a quick period of troubleshooting showed the Broncos were better with Carrigan at lock.

Maguire also chopped and changed his wingers, with Selwyn Cobbo and Jesse Arthars currently watching on from the sidelines.

Deine Mariner and Josiah Karapani were both given opportunities and have taken them, keeping a pair previously included in Origin squads off the park.

The mid-season signing of Ben Talty has also been inspired, and the former Bears middle has made a mark off the bench, despite being dropped for the grand final.

Big decisions, and ones that have paid off as the Broncos prepare for a second crack at a drought-breaking title.

Throughout the year, I even heard rumblings of players being upset about the coaching methods.

But, what the Broncos have now learnt, is that winning is fun and the price of that success is hard work. Training isn’t always going to be fun.

Overall, Brisbane have made a healthy amount of mistakes since 2020.

However, after identifying their building blocks, recruiting to support them, and not sitting on their hands and making a brutal coaching call, they are in a better position than ever.

THE STORM LINKS IN BRONCOS’ SUCCESS

As mentioned above, Donaghy arrived at Red Hill ahead of the 2021 season.

What can’t be forgotten during his tenure at the Broncos is he came from the Storm, having been their chief executive from 2015 to 2020.

He enjoyed a mountain of success in Melbourne and ended his time alongside Craig Bellamy with a premiership in 2020.

Donaghy then brought a very ‘Storm mentality’ to Red Hill, and implemented their way of doing things.

Over the last five years his position would have been consistently questioned, with only one finals appearance prior to 2025.

However, he was instigating change.

The Broncos could also only be in a premiership-challenging position, after making the mistakes listed above, by having complete alignment when it comes to recruitment and their board room.

The last piece of the puzzle was signing Maguire, who is very similar to Bellamy.

Donaghy now faces Bellamy and Frank Ponissi, who face the very real prospect of their former colleague besting them come Sunday.

It’s a tantalising storyline.

Add into the mix the fact Maguire was also one of Bellamy’s assistant coaches and there’s some very strong links between these two teams.

Brisbane have always been a team of talent, but Donaghy and Maguire have brought a sprinkle of Melbourne magic to Red Hill.

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