{"id":712686,"date":"2026-06-03T13:57:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T13:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/712686\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T13:57:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T13:57:11","slug":"put-a-line-through-them-the-crucial-question-facing-madge-if-shock-broncos-call-backfires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/712686\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Put a line through them\u2019: The \u2018crucial\u2019 question facing Madge if shock Broncos call backfires"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Broncos coach Michael Maguire is crying out for a \u201cresponse\u201d from his struggling side after making the big call to demote Ezra Mam to the bench.<\/p>\n<p>Like several Broncos, Mam hasn\u2019t had a great season to date, with his defence especially poor.<\/p>\n<p>Watch every game of every round of the NRL Premiership LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kayosports.com.au\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img class=\"i-amphtml-fill-content i-amphtml-replaced-content\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/poster-fallback.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s cost the exciting playmaker a starting spot, with Maguire turning to young gun Tom Duffy to partner Adam Reynolds in the halves as the Broncos aim to stop a four-game slide.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s hard to argue with given how poor he (Mam) has been,\u201d The Daily Telegraph\u2019s Michael Carayannis said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUsually he plays his best when the big dogs are missing but they\u2019ve been there largely this year and he just hasn\u2019t set the world on fire we saw on the back end of last year so I have no issue about him getting dropped.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Both Carayannis and colleague Brent Read believe Mam needs to be the starting six if the Broncos are to be a premiership hope.<\/p>\n<p>However, the Broncos need a circuit-breaker, and the duo think this move from Maguire could spark a response.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe needs to be at six if the Broncos are to make a dent in this comp. With respect to Tom Duffy, they aren\u2019t going to win a comp with Duffy,\u201d Read said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEzra\u2019s defence has been bang-average. He has missed a lot of tackles this year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can understand why Madge has done it because this side needs a rocket under it and dropping Mam to the bench is a rocket.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a huge game. The pressure is mounting and the noise has started,\u201d Carayannis added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe crucial thing for Michael Maguire is if he doesn\u2019t get a response after dropping Ezra Mam, where does he go from here?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Souths unhappy with Koula return | 01:15<\/p>\n<p>MORE NRL NEWS <\/p>\n<p>REPORT CARD: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/nrl\/nrl-premiership\/nrl-2026-every-team-graded-in-midseason-report-card-analysis-season-summary-so-far\/news-story\/e4b47d7184d8cd0d8a5597e7713d4877\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Broncos\u2019 issue rears ugly head; coach\u2019s $10m masterstroke<\/a><\/p>\n<p>CRAWLS: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/nrl\/state-of-origin\/state-of-origin-2026-changes-laurie-daley-must-make-for-game-2-nsw-blues-vs-queensland-maroons-opinion-and-analysis-paul-crawley-ethan-strane-to-start-at-no6-stephen-crichton-switch\/news-story\/712e9bdd01306966efabd531cf10f118\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Young stars who must be picked in ELEVEN changes for Origin II<\/a><\/p>\n<p>ORIGIN DAILY: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/nrl\/nrl-premiership\/state-of-origin-2026-andrew-johns-floats-surprising-candidate-as-blayke-braileys-replacement-calls-to-axe-stephen-crichton-nsw-blues-qld-maroons-star-kalyn-ponga-reveals-gruesome-injury\/news-story\/88b9cbc9745c103803a7faef2bc49731\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Radical Brailey replacement floated; Ponga reveals gruesome injury<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Prior to last weekend\u2019s shocking loss to previously winless St. George, the Broncos had the bye in Round 12.<\/p>\n<p>Despite three straight losses, Maguire gave his players four days off in the hopes a freshen up would turn their fortunes around.<\/p>\n<p>The plan backfired. The Broncos came out of the gates sluggish against the Dragons, falling in an early 14-0 hole.<\/p>\n<p>Read didn\u2019t have a problem with Maguire\u2019s tact, noting the Broncos coach has copped it in the past for seemingly training his players \u201ctoo hard\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have no issue with it. We bag him for pushing him too hard, and then he gives them four days and we say \u2018what\u2019s he doing\u2019. That result, in my opinion, had nothing to do with the team taking four days off,\u201d Read said.<\/p>\n<p>The Broncos\u2019 next assignment is against the Titans, who are once agains parked to the bottom of the ladder and in need of a win.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a crunch game for Brisbane. A loss would mean they\u2019ll need to win eight of their final 11 games just to play finals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf they lose this weekend the Broncos, put a line through them,\u201d Read declared.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Broncos coach Michael Maguire is crying out for a \u201cresponse\u201d from his struggling side after making the big&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":712687,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[18743,64,63,689,651,4428,74604,346303,346302,259444,17343,11096,6407,761,762,2613,158,677,346301,701,12127,241558,85,31582,132831,63143,346304,9020,29646],"class_list":["post-712686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-adam-reynolds","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-brisbane","tag-brisbane-broncos","tag-concussion-protocol","tag-crucial-decision","tag-crucial-thing","tag-crunch-game","tag-daily-telegraph","tag-daniel-nuttall","tag-michael-maguire","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-new-zealand-warriors","tag-nrl","tag-oceania","tag-premiership-hope","tag-queensland","tag-report-card","tag-shock-call","tag-sports","tag-st-george","tag-starting-spot","tag-tom-duffy","tag-will-ezra-mam","tag-young-gun","tag-young-stars"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=712686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712686\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/712687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=712686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=712686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=712686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}