‘You weren’t listening’: Madge fires up as Broncos' equation becomes even more grim
Michael Maguire has hit back at suggestions the Broncos are facing “an uphill battle” to make the NRL finals after they slumped to a seventh straight loss on Friday night.
Having lost 24-18 to the Roosters at Suncorp Stadium, the Broncos must likely now win eight of their last nine matches to be any chance of playing finals football.
Broncos coach Michael Maguire. NRL Imagery
But when asked in his post-game press conference what his message for his team was considering the “uphill battle” facing them, Maguire fired up.
“Well I wouldn’t say it’s an uphill battle with the team I’ve got here,” he said.
“People can say whatever they like, to be truthfully honest.
“The belief I have in this group and the journey that I’ve had with this group – there’s a great group.
“If you fight like that – we’ll let that do the talking.”
Not only must the Broncos likely win eight of their last nine games to remain a chance of reaching the finals, they are scheduled to face a host of the top teams on the run home.
Among them are the Sharks, Panthers, Dolphins, Warriors and Storm.
The Broncos’ seven-game losing run is the longest losing streak of a reigning premier since Western Suburbs Magpies in 1953.
Maguire was asked if it was time to forget about this year’s finals hopes and get game time into some youngsters, including front-rower Va’a Semu and hooker Cameron Bukowski.
He didn’t take kindly to the question.
“You obviously weren’t listening to what I just said there before,” Maguire said, replying with a steely grin.
The Broncos are dealing with a massive injury toll. On Friday night, they were missing Adam Reynolds, Ezra Mam, Gehamat Shibasaki and Patrick Carrigan.
Maguire was chuffed with how his team went in those circumstances.
“I was actually really proud of my players tonight,” Maguire said.
“We’ve been through a bit in the last five or six weeks, and the way I’ve seen the players commit over the last three or four weeks has been really good.
“They fought like hell tonight for each other. We had ‘X’ [Xavier Willison] go off, one of our middles, and it sort of changed up what we were doing through the middle there. We got a few bumps and bruises throughout the game, but I thought the effort of the players was excellent.
“There were moments in the game that you’d like to have back, which would alleviate a bit of the pressure – we had a couple of yardage errors and things like that – but I saw a really committed group.
“I just said to the players then that I saw the team that I love coaching.”
Brisbane will take on Cronulla at Suncorp Stadium next Saturday night.
