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<\/p>\n\u201cMarty, you f…ing liked it.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was how Martin Taupau learned he had inadvertently triggered the end of his NRL career.<\/p>\n
What Taupau thought was just another harmless double-tap on a former teammate\u2019s social media feed turned out to be a scathing, three-part critique of Brisbane Broncos coach Michael Maguire\u2019s intense methods.<\/p>\n
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The veteran prop never even watched the video, but the fallout was immediate and final.<\/p>\n
Taupau can lay claim to being the first NRL player to be sacked for liking an Instagram post.<\/p>\n
In our exclusive new series, SACKED, Code Sports reveals the stories behind some of the most controversial exits in NRL history. To watch or listen to the first episode go to Code Sports<\/a> where Martin Tapau takes you inside his dumping as an NRL player when the Brisbane Broncos sacked him over an Instagram post … READ, WATCH, LISTEN<\/a><\/p>\n On May 15, 2025, Taupau\u2019s day started like any other. His morning routine included journalling and scrolling through social media over a cup of coffee.<\/p>\n \u201cI wake up, I write the things that I need to execute today, the things that I was grateful for, make my morning coffee, grab my phone, sip my coffee and just scroll,\u201d Taupau said.<\/p>\n One of the posts he scrolled past was from his friend and former New Zealand international teammate Elijah Taylor, who shares videos on Instagram about rugby league via his \u201cFooty Hacks\u201d account.<\/p>\n Without watching it, he said, Taupau liked the post and kept scrolling.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t watch it,\u201d Taupau said. \u201cF… I should have.\u201d<\/p>\n Shortly after, Taupau, who lived just 200 metres from Broncos HQ, hopped on his scooter and headed to training, unaware his casual double-tap had ignited a media storm.<\/p>\n \u201cI ride down, walk through into the sheds, and the boys go, \u2018Oh, did you see that video?\u2019\u201d Taupau said.<\/p>\n \u201cI was like, \u2018What video are you talking about?\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd Walshy (Reece Walsh), looks at me and goes, \u201cMarty, you f…ing liked it\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Taupau took out his phone and immediately unliked the post, though he still hadn\u2019t watched the three-part video in full, and tried to put it out of his mind as he went out to train.<\/p>\n After he came off the field following the training session, Taupau was summoned to a meeting with CEO Dave Donaghy and general manager of football Troy Thomson for an explanation.<\/p>\n He apologised, but admitted he still hadn\u2019t watched Taylor\u2019s post.<\/p>\n It was then that they played the video.<\/p>\n Taylor, who had played under Maguire at the Wests Tigers, critiqued his intensity.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve never seen a coach ride the game so hard,\u201d Taylor said.<\/p>\n In our exclusive new series, SACKED, Code Sports reveals the stories behind some of the most controversial exits in NRL history. To watch or listen to the first episode go to Code Sports<\/a> where Martin Tapau takes you inside his dumping as an NRL player when the Brisbane Broncos sacked him over an Instagram post … R<\/a>EAD, WATCH, LISTEN<\/a><\/p>\n After a win, the world\u2019s a better place. After a loss, you\u2019re off to the funeral, big time. And someone\u2019s going to get cooked in that video session.<\/p>\n \u201cThose video sessions are the most intense I\u2019ve ever been in; squeezed up, seatbelt, ass cheeks are tight.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen he\u2019s angry, the veins are out, the neck starts snapping and the tongue comes out.\u201d<\/p>\n Taylor also went in hard on what he described as Maguire\u2019s \u201ccrazy\u201d training methods and his time efficiency, accusing him of having \u201ca meeting for a meeting for a meeting\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIf Madge can clean that up I\u2019m sure he can turn that Broncos season around,\u201d Taylor said.<\/p>\n Taupau apologised to Donaghy and Thomson for his social media mistake, and later approached Maguire to do the same, assuring him it was unintentional and without malice.<\/p>\n But his plea fell on deaf ears and Taupau\u2019s contract was terminated, ending his 16-year career in the NRL.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cMarty, you f…ing liked it.\u201d That was how Martin Taupau learned he had inadvertently triggered the end of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":860087,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-860086","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\/860086","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=860086"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860086\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/860087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=860086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=860086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=860086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}