A day after Brisbane’s epic preliminary final win over Penrith, veteran journalist Phil Rothfield has admitted that he “got it wrong” in his criticism of Broncos coach Michael Maguire.

Rothfield had been critical of Maguire for much of the season since penning a column back in May reporting Broncos players were finding it hard to adjust to his heavy-handed coaching style.

After an upset loss to Souths, Rothfield also called out Maguire’s decision to take his players on a luxury cruise around Sydney Harbour in the days before the defeat.

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At the time, Rothfield also detailed his fiery phone conversation with the Broncos coach which the journalist called a “blazing row”.

Following that loss to Souths, the Broncos were the definition of average. They had won five and lost five despite boasting one of the most talented rosters in the competition.

The Broncos would free fall further, losing their next two to drop out of the eight completely before turning their form around in the second half of the season to finish in the top four.

The Broncos’ ordinary start to the year led the club bringing in a crisis manager mid-season to help “calm the farm” as Rothfield described.

With the Broncos now in a grand final, NRL360 host Braith Anasta asked Rothfield what he thought of Maguire’s first season at the helm.

“If you want me to sit here on a Monday night and not have an opinion, I’m happy to stay quiet. At the beginning of the year, I was told that Broncos players were struggling to come to grips with Madge’s intense style. That was the case,” Rothfield said.

“They went on a harbour cruise, then they got beat by Souths.

“You know what, I’ve been proven wrong.

“I’ve also been told, and if you speak to a couple of players they will tell you that they (Broncos) brought in a crisis manager Grant Williams just to calm the farm a bit.

“Grant Williams, he’s worked with police commissioners and very heavy hitters.

“Why do you bring in a crisis manager? To fix a crisis.”

“They had a lot of drama going on,” journalist Brent Read added.

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That “drama” was the reason behind the Broncos’ decision to bring in a crisis manager.

It was not only due to poor on field results, but to address some off field issues the club were dealing with.

That included the fallout from Ezra Mam’s car crash and navigating his return from the NRL’s nine-game ban, the sacking of forward Marty Taupau after he liked a social media post critical of Maguire, backlash from club legends over a logo rebrand and of course, the reports of player unrest at the club.

Anasta revealed on NRL360 that he ran into Maguire in Sydney during the tricky period the Broncos faced earlier in the season.

“I’ll say this, I saw Madge during that tough period in Maroubra and he was doing it tough,” Anasta said.

“They were going through a tough time. They really were.

“They were in a hole. Even the way they were playing, we were questioning their desire.

“That’s what they got him there to do and that was to lift their intensity, make sure they were fitter and they had more desire and competed harder.

“Some games there, they weren’t even close so that’s what makes this (grand final berth) so special.”

To Maguire and the Broncos’ credit, they were able to come out the other side and put their best foot forward.

They’ve had to rely on desire and fight to win their past two finals games after trailing Canberra and Penrith by 16 points and 14 points respectively before finishing over the top of those teams.

“The way that they played yesterday, that’s the epitome of everything that Madge Maguire wanted them to be because they were down on their knees,” Read said.