Michael Maguire’s coaching methods and his long-term future at the Broncos have come under fresh scrutiny, amid bombshell new claims about player unrest at the club. Maguire is regarded as one of the best coaches in the NRL, having won the 2025 premiership with Brisbane in his first season in charge.
He’s also led the Blues to a State of Origin series victory and coached the Kiwis to a Pacific Championship title, to go with his maiden NRL premiership with Souths in 2014. But the one constant knock on Maguire is that his famously hard-nosed coaching methods are too intense and it eventually causes issues within his playing groups.
Michael Maguire’s coaching methods are under fresh scrutiny amid claims of player unrest at the Broncos. Pic: Getty
Speaking on 2GB Radio’s The Continuous Call Team program, league great Mark Geyer claims this has now become an issue for Maguire at the Broncos. “What I do keep hearing a lot is Madge’s name being mentioned… I’m not gonna say [in] unfriendly [ways], but not in positive ways,” Geyer said.
“That makes me think that someone like Michael Maguire has a shelf life as a coach in the NRL of around three years, because he is so intense. Then it is time for him to take his powers and move on somewhere else that needs his help.”
Geyer warned Maguire that his long-term coaching future at the Broncos could be in jeopardy if he doesn’t either get the players on board, or take more drastic action. “He has got to get rid of those players that keep saying things about him,” Geyer added.
Brisbane premiership silenced Michael Maguire’s critics
Brisbane’s premiership triumph in 2025 silenced many of Maguire’s critics and was further proof that his notoriously tough methods produced success. But Cronulla legend Paul Gallen warned that things could quickly sour for the Broncos coach if results start going against them, much like the situation at Souths after Maguire’s initial grand final success with the Bunnies.
“I can only imagine that there are players there who don’t get on well with him and might not like the hard training, so they have a whinge every now and then,” Gallen said. “When things are not going right, someone is going to bring it out (to the public).”
Brisbane Broncos coach Michael Maguire celebrates with his players after their NRL grand final victory over Melbourne in 2025. Pic: Getty
(Darrian Traynor via Getty Images)
Former Bulldogs fan favourite Josh Morris agreed, but said it was important Maguire kept driving the standards if the Broncos hoped to defend their premiership in 2026. “When they were going well, no one was talking about it, but as soon as they started losing that’s when the murmurs started coming out that the players were unhappy with his hard training methods,” Morris said.
“But how do you think they got back into that winning position? They didn’t do it by training lightly. If you want to be a successful team you have to drive high standards. They will probably train harder in this season than they did in the last because now they are the hunted… They were always the premiership hopefuls but never threats. Now they are that.”