Michael Maguire has effectively given assistant Matt Ballin his blessing should he be approached by Manly after the club sacked Anthony Seibold on Friday night.

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While the Broncos were reeling earlier in the week after the shock resignation of defensive coach Ben Te’o, the defending premiers didn’t let it impact their performance at Suncorp Stadium.

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In fact, they produced their best defensive performance of the season to back up last week’s effort against Melbourne and prove they can still rediscover the magic of last year’s premiership run.

While Maguire said he has not had the chance to speak with Ballin yet, he declared he wants to see every member of his coaching staff “excel” when asked if he would be prepared to let him take the Sea Eagles job.

“I haven’t even spoke to Matty but I want all my staff to excel in whatever it is that they do and what they want to do,” Maguire said.

“So those things, if they arise, then we’ll talk about that.”

When asked if he thought Ballin would be able to handle the added responsibility, Maguire said that “sometimes you’re not sure whether you are” an NRL coach or not, but added that the Sea Eagles legend is a “great human”

“And those things come to people that work hard,” Maguire continued.

“If it’s the right time, it’s the right time.”

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The Sea Eagles are expected to appoint an interim coach for the rest of the season, so if Ballin was to get the job it is likely he would only depart the Broncos at the end of the year anyway.

That would mean he, like skipper Adam Reynolds and prop Payne Haas, could depart in fairytale fashion with a premiership.

Based on early results this season that looked unlikely, but back-to-back wins have the Broncos building momentum and it is all on the back of their work in defence.

“I said after last week’s game I could see the team that I know and what they can achieve,” Maguire said.

“They had to dig pretty deep today because they were coming pretty hard and fast, the Dolphins, but they hung strong. I know it’s inside this group. They work for each other and come up with some special plays.

“We’ve been able to show the signs that we’re chasing. I was just really happy with the resilience that each of them showed for each other.

“There’s always something there that you can find to work on but the fact that they did the 40 tackles and worked hard right to the death of the game was a special performance.”

Individually, it was a particularly special performance from skipper Adam Reynolds after scathing criticism from club legend Gorden Tallis in the wake of the loss to the Eels.

Reynolds scored a sensational solo try which he credited to Alfie Langer to go with a try assist, while he also forced two dropouts.

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“I saw Alfie in the sheds. He taught me that a couple of years ago,” Reynolds said.

“I’d seen a little bit of space there, obviously (we had a) game plan throughout the week in certain situations and credit to the coaching staff in IDing those sort of things.

“It’s enjoyable when you see them come to light when you’re out there playing.”

Reynolds was even at his clever best at one point earlier in the game when he was ruled to have been obstructed by Connelly Lemuelu in the lead-up to Kodi Nikorima’s potential try.

Reynolds wasn’t going to get to Nikorima in time, but perfectly played it, prompting Triple M journalist Ben Dobbin to ask him about the “acting class” he put on and the halfback had the perfect reply.

“You’ve just got to know the rules,” he laughed.

While Reynolds missed the Storm game with a rib injury, he said he was “confident” he would get through Friday’s fixture and coach Maguire was also quick to defend his captain.

“There’s a lot of people that sometimes have their thoughts about what he can and can’t do but what I do know is that he can perform like he did tonight,” Maguire said of Reynolds.

“It was a leadership role that he jumped out there and I could sense that he was coming back and going to get himself into the right frame of mind to play like that.”