{"id":848053,"date":"2026-08-08T14:16:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:16:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/848053\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:16:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:16:17","slug":"nrl-2026-brisbane-broncos-coach-michael-maguire-reflects-on-being-16th-on-the-ladder-dolphins-defending-premiers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/848053\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2026: Brisbane Broncos coach Michael Maguire reflects on being 16th on the ladder, Dolphins, defending premiers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Broncos coach Michael Maguire has described the pain he and his players are feeling as they slumped to another loss at home<\/a> to leave the club languishing in second-last on the ladder.<\/p>\n

Watch every game of every round of the Premiership Season LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The defending premiers lost what Maguire described as an \u201cunusual\u201d game after shooting out to a 24-0 lead to stun cross-town rivals the Dolphins. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

WHAT’S GAMBLING REALLY COSTING YOU? Set a deposit limit. For Free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.<\/p>\n

The Broncos were looking like the team that won the competition last year as everything went right early. <\/p>\n

But after Xavier Willison\u2019s 20th-minute try, the Dolphins kicked into gear to post seven tries to win 40-32 and consolidate fifth place on the NRL ladder and lock in the club\u2019s first finals berth.<\/p>\n

In contrast, the Broncos suffered their greatest collapse in club history and have just six wins to show in 2026 and only sit above St George Illawarra on the ladder.<\/p>\n

In his post-match press conference, Maguire was asked if he could believe his defending champions were running 16th.<\/p>\n

Phins come back to clinch finals debut | 05:11<\/p>\n

\u201cIt hurts, obviously,\u201d Maguire said before admitting he didn\u2019t think his side would be in the situation it\u2019s currently in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s still plenty of work that we need to do. We got through halfway of last year and we were probably having some similar challenges then we hit a streak and we went on to some pretty good places.\u201d<\/p>\n

After conceding seven tries and blowing a 24-point lead, Maguire said his team needed to work better defensively.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the will to work hard for each other, which they do, and if they\u2019re willing to stick at it, you\u2019ll find that. I\u2019ve been a part of teams that have done that,\u201d Maguire said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not so much what\u2019s going on and where we are on the ladder, it\u2019s about what we can do to make sure that we can build something that\u2019s strong over periods of time. <\/p>\n

\u201cObviously I\u2019m frustrated. You can\u2019t let in that many tries to put yourselves in a position to be able to really contend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Get all the latest NRL news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!!<\/a><\/p>\n

Michael Maguire reflects on another loss at Suncorp Stadium.Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n

Dolphins coach Kristian Woolf was proud of his side\u2019s mental resilience to fight their way back from 24-0 down so quickly.<\/p>\n

The Dolphins scored four tries of their own in the first half to go into the break 30-24 down.<\/p>\n

They scored three unanswered tries in the second period, but it was at half-time where Woolf thought they had the game secured. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn the second half I felt like we were in control. I felt like we\u2019re always going to win,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Speedster Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow had a try-scoring double and echoed his Woolf\u2019s confidence in his team.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t panic and we know what type of team we are,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Phins come back to clinch finals debut | 05:11<\/p>\n

The loss was Brisbane\u2019s six consecutive defeat at Suncorp Stadium which equalled the club\u2019s worst losing streak at the ground.<\/p>\n

The fact it\u2019s often rated the best rugby league stadium in Australia is something Maguire thinks has played a big role in the ground losing its \u2018fortress\u2019 status.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are obviously pretty spoiled to be able to play at a great ground like this. Other people come here and the chatter around is everyone loves coming to play here,\u201d Maguire said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone\u2019s going to turn up and be at their best, so we need to be at our best. We\u2019re currently not doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Broncos coach Michael Maguire has described the pain he and his players are feeling as they slumped to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":848054,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-848053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848053","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=848053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848053\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/848054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=848053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=848053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=848053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}