Michael Maguire has finally had enough of his footy side after weeks of defending losing efforts, storming out of his press conference, while Pat Carrigan said the Broncos lacked “desire” in the 40-6 loss to the Warriors at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.
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Despite winning just one of their past 11 heading into the game, Maguire had continuously driven a narrative that his players were putting in their full effort.
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But after they allowed the Warriors to run in seven tries on their home ground, the Broncos coach let his players have it in the post-match press conference.
“Not good enough, just plain and simple. We won’t want to do that next weekend because we’ll cop the same. It was really disappointing, that one. We’re not playing the style that we know we’ve practised,” he said.
Carrigan was then asked by a reporter if it was hard to stay motivated knowing the team was out of finals contention, but the Brisbane skipper didn’t have time to answer before Maguire intervened.
“I reckon that’s garbage. We’re playing the team next week (Canberra) that’s in the same boat. We’re playing for the Broncos,” Maguire said.
“It’s easy to motivate people when you’re playing for the Broncos. They’re playing for a very good club.”
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Earlier in the day the Raiders, who are also out of finals contention, rolled up their sleeves to defeat the fancied Sharks away from home.
After seeing how committed Ricky Stuart’s team was hours earlier compared to his side, Maguire decided to remind his players that they were representing the glamour club of the NRL.
“The boys are playing for the Broncos jersey that they wear. That is not good enough. I normally keep calm at these things. We need to have a good hard look at ourselves,” he said, with veteran Brisbane rugby league writer Peter Badel reporting that Maguire stormed out of his press conference as it ended.
Michael Maguire leaves his press conference.Source: FOX SPORTS
Carrigan was eventually asked what went wrong after the Warriors put the game to bed in the first 20 minutes with three quick tries.
“Just a lack of desire and intent to do your job. It’s not good enough from us as players we just got out-competed tonight, which was disappointing,” Carrigan said.
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The Broncos were dealt a huge blow early in the match when Reece Walsh limped off with a high ankle sprain after a Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad hip drop tackle.
Maguire was asked how bad the Walsh injury was after he was left wearing a moon boot and he snapped back: “I’m more concerned about our performance.”
The loss was Brisbane’s 15th of the season and it’s the most by a defending premier in the game’s history.
Wests lost 13 games in the 1953 season after winning the competition the previous year.
The Broncos could still get the wooden spoon if the Dragons win on Sunday.