Michael Maguire has put Brisbane’s playing group on notice, declaring he will be “having a look at each player in the squad” after a shocking 40-32 loss to Parramatta on Thursday.
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The Broncos looked to be cruising at 20-6 midway through the first half before conceding three tries in five minutes to trail at halftime, and despite having multiple opportunities they were unable to ice the game in the second half.
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While it is still far from panic stations only being round two, Brisbane’s defence in particular has left a lot to be desired with the Broncos conceding the most points (66) through two games by a defending premier in history.
It will force the Broncos to ask tough questions at training this week, with coach Maguire refusing to guarantee anyone’s place in the team is safe ahead of next Friday’s grand final rematch against Melbourne.
Maguire was asked at the end of Thursday night’s press conference if he would “back the boys in” or if there were same players who would “be on notice” and for a coach that has such high standards of his players and isn’t afraid to make big calls, his response was telling.
“I’ll have a look at the performance,” he said.
“That’s what you do as a coach. I’ll go back and watch the tape. We performed for 20 minutes, we performed pretty well, but it takes 80 minutes to win a game of footy. So I’ll be having a look at each player in the squad.”
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A “disappointed” Maguire said he knows his playing group has the talent to turn the results around, but challenged them to find the same kind of resilience that saw them overturn so many slow starts last season.
“We’re up 20 points, and for whatever reason, we softened and teams find you,” Maguire said.
“It’s an 80-minute game. We talked a lot about that over our journey over the last 12 months. We’ve got to find that again. Everyone owns that together.”
It was a similar message from Maguire on Brisbane’s defence after the left edge in particular was found wanting on Thursday.
“It takes a team to have a strong defensive line,” the Broncos coach said.
“There’s all little things that go on within. Whether you win on the ruck. Whether you get your third man back. We’re definitely going to have to have a look at that on both sides.
“We had a few issues there on the left, but as a group and as a team, they all help each other and that’s what a defensive line is. We’re just not hitting the mark there.”
While the Panthers defied history to win four-straight premierships, the biggest stumbling block to champions going back-to-back has often been desire.
Do they still have it in them to do the one per centers? To chase that little bit harder in defence? It is a question Michael Ennis had for the Broncos on Fox League’s pre-game coverage, and it won’t be going away after Thursday’s result.
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“Has that desire wavered at all? Does it just drop fractionally because you’ve won a competition?” Ennis asked.
“Because Maguire’s training ethics aren’t going to deteriorate… he knows the standard it takes to win a competition… have the players got that same desire?”
“All it takes in this competition is five or 10 per cent to be off and be the hunter and the other sides get on top of you… Brisbane have to respond tonight otherwise the noise, regardless of whether they like it, they’re a big club with big expectations with a roster filled with superstars.”
That noise certainly won’t be going away after the loss to the Eels and when asked if he thinks his side still has the hunger to go all the way again, Maguire replied: “It’s a question you can ask but what they’re doing and what I’m seeing (is) they’re a hungry group but the competition demands you to be hungry every single day”.
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Part of re-discovering that hunger will be finding the urgency that saw the Broncos fight back against the Raiders, Panthers and then Storm in last year’s incredible finals run.
Echoing his coach, Broncos skipper Adam Reynolds said they have the team capable of turning it around, but that will start by putting in an 80-minute performance on a weekly basis.
“We’ve got to find that (resilience), haven’t we? That’s part of what we’ll go to training for,” Maguire said.
“The one thing I do know about the team is they can do it. They’ve got the same talent, it’s just a matter of being prepared to work hard enough to be able to play the 80-minute game.”
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