Michael Maguire has denied suggestions his Broncos players were motivated by critics after snapping the club’s 19-year premiership drought in Sunday night’s grand final win over Melbourne. Maguire has rejected the notion that Brisbane ‘kept receipts’ after their approach was criticised earlier in the season, but the actions of Broncos forward Jordan Riki after the decider suggest otherwise.
Shortly after helping the club win its seventh NRL premiership, Riki’s focus quickly turned to veteran league reporter Phil ‘Buzz’ Rothfield, who was an outspoken critic of Maguire’s this season. Rothfield claimed there was disharmony among the Broncos playing group at the start of the year, amid suggestions the coach had worked them too hard during a pre-season boot camp that reportedly involved ‘spew buckets’ for the players.
Brisbane coach Michael Maguire (L) has rejected claims his premiership-winning Broncos were motivated by critics despite a swipe from Jordan Riki (centre) after the grand final. Pic: Getty
And Riki was quick to rub it in after delivering a video message to the veteran reporter following Brisbane’s grand final win. “Someone send me Buzz Rothfield’s number… sack of potatoes that fella, damn!” he said, before singing Buzz’s name into the camera. Clive Churchill Medallist Reece Walsh also gave the reporter a shout-out before the clip finished.
But Maguire brushed off the idea that criticism from the likes of Rothfield had fuelled his side’s premiership campaign in 2025. The Broncos coach admitted to SEN radio that they were ‘gonna have some fun with this’, in reference to Brisbane’s doubters. But he said the outside noise was never something the Broncos really took much notice of.
“It’s not the opinions I care about it’s the people I’m fortunate to be with,” he said. “They look at the past and come up with things, but we came up with something that the right people talk about. The right people know what goes on to create what we did. They’re the people you want to hang around so that’s why I stick with them.”
Michael Maguire’s focus on fitness paid off for the Broncos
Maguire admitted that he did push his squad hard in pre-season and throughout the year, but the benefits of his hard-nosed approach were evident at the back-end of the season as their supreme fitness levels came to the fore. Maguire’s men won 13 of their final 15 games of the season and came from behind in all three finals games.
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Week one of the playoffs saw them produce a stunning comeback to beat minor premiers Canberra in a golden point thriller, before overturning a 14-point halftime deficit to topple four-time champions Penrith in the preliminary final. Brisbane also trailed by 10 points at the break in Sunday night’s grand final before overrunning the Storm in the second forty to reinforce their status as second half specialists.
Brisbane coach Michael Maguire’s hard-nosed approach was vindicated as he led the Broncos to their first premiership in 19 years. Pic: Getty
“We had moments through the season – I won’t deny that. I want to push the players to high levels and sometimes it takes time for people to adjust,” Maguire said about his coaching approach. “You have to take people out of their comfort zones to get them where they have never been. I’ve worked to push levels, that’s where the belief comes from.
“Players can do a lot more than they believe they can. Fitness is just one part of that. I was really confident in what the players were moving towards. The leaders jumped on board and now they’re the champions of the comp. It’s nice to be able to see it.”
The defensive resolve and fitness levels of Maguire’s Broncos were perfectly illustrated by Walsh’s match-winning late tackle on Storm fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen that is set to go down in NRL grand final folklore. “My heart rate was going towards the end of the game,” Maguire admitted. “When Ryan Papenhuyzen came through and Reece crunched the tackle and saved the day, it was a very special feeling.”