When he arrived at the Broncos in September 2024, head coach Michael Maguire declared he was in a rush.
Twelve months on, and with his side on the cusp of a grand final appearance in his first season, the 51-year-old says nothing has changed—and he certainly isn’t surprised at the pace at which Brisbane has re-found success.
“I felt coming to a club like this, definitely (it was possible),” Maguire told the media ahead of Sunday’s preliminary final against the Penrith Panthers.
“You don’t know the timelines, but did I believe in the players I was coming to coach? Yes, I did, well and truly. It’s a great club and as I keep saying, there is so much more in this team, that’s the exciting part, we’re all in a rush because everyone wants to win a comp.”
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The immediate obstacle to winning this year’s comp, of course, comes in the hugely daunting form of the four-time reigning NRL premiers Penrith.
While acknowledging the size of the challenge, Maguire pointed to Brisbane having two considerable advantages heading into the clash with the Panthers, beginning with playing at a packed Suncorp Stadium.
“It’s our home and the boys really enjoy playing here,” he said.
“We’ve definitely had some incredible experiences over the last couple of months with our fans (at Suncorp Stadium), the players feel it, there’s probably a number of games throughout the year when they’ve got us home.”
The second advantage has been the extra time Maguire and his team have enjoyed to prepare for the Panthers, courtesy of having week two of the finals off.
“I’ve experienced both as a coach (having the week off and playing in week two) and I think it’s a big advantage where we are at the moment,” he said.
“I’ve had all the players able to train every day this week, they haven’t missed a beat and that’s really important for creating your best performance.
“It’s why you work hard to put yourself in this position—you realise the enormity of being able to have a bit of time together with extra training.”
‘You never know’ says Maguire about Ezra Mam role
That extra training has been especially critical for the Broncos as they welcome back three stars from long-term injuries—Adam Reynolds, Xavier Willison and Ezra Mam.
Maguire remained coy about Mam’s role on Sunday when asked if he could be a late inclusion to start at five-eighth, despite being named on the interchange bench.
“You never know,” Maguire said with his best poker face.
“He’s trained really well in the last two or three weeks, he’s put the work in so there’s no reason why he couldn’t play a lot of time if needed.
“Ez is very capable, we’ll inject him at the right time, I know the boys enjoy having him back in the team.”