EXCLUSIVE: Billy Slater breaks down Michael Maguire's 'desperate' bench ploy that revived Broncos' season

Billy Slater admits he was surprised by some of Michael Maguire's tactics against the Storm, but heaped praise on the "desperation" shown by Brisbane.

The reigning premiers ended a tough stretch on and off the field on Friday night, coming away with an upset win in Melbourne for the first time in a decade.

Maguire and the Broncos had copped plenty of criticism after back-to-back losses to start the NRL season, while also falling short in the World Club Challenge.

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With the side down 14-0 at the break against the Storm, things were looking incredibly dire and the blowtorch was going to be coming for Maguire more than ever before.

But in a stunning display similar to their prelim final and grand final victories last year, the Broncos surged back into the contest and held on for an 18-14 win.

Speaking on Nine's The Billy Slater Podcast, the champion fullback said he hoped the win would "dilute the noise" at Red Hill after a difficult period.

"It was exactly what they needed," Slater said.

"The noise around Brisbane has been ridiculously loud. I don't understand it, I've never heard this sort of noise after a team has just won the premiership. In that sense, it's been a really good result for them, they've got the monkey off the back.

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"They're definitely not back on track, but to go to Melbourne and work the way that they did, at least they've got some things to really celebrate and they can move forward.

"They needed to get that monkey off their back, get the victory and dilute the noise a little bit and get on their run."

In the absence of captain Adam Reynolds, it was Ben Hunt who stepped into the vacant halfback role and steered the ship in the second-half comeback.

However, the performance of Brisbane's forward pack - especially their two main leaders Payne Haas and Patrick Carrigan - was what really made Slater take notice.

Carrigan played the entire 80 minutes and worked tirelessly in the middle of the field, while Haas had a short break and was at his dominant best.

The win was even more remarkable given Maguire used just two substitutes - Brendan Piakura and Ben Talty - leaving four players on the bench for the full game.

"They still had a couple of changes up their sleeve - Pat Carrigan could have come off for five minutes and went back on," Slater said.

"When you're in the game you don't know what's coming in front of you as well with injuries and HIAs, to keep them up your sleeve is certainly a benefit.

"That was something that took my notice as well and there's no right or wrong way to do things as a coach or a player. It just showed you how desperate they were, they needed their best players out on the field for as long as possible.

"I think Michael Maguire was just heavily reliant on his senior men and the players who have done the job before ... I don't think we will see that quite regularly in any team."

The new six-man bench rule has caused plenty of debate in the opening rounds of the season, but most clubs have quickly adapted in their own ways. Still, it was a surprise to see Maguire not utilise the likes of Aublix Tawha or Blake Mozer.

But when you consider the display from Carrigan - 23 runs for 169 metres and 43 tackles - it's easy to see why Maguire wanted him out there, especially as the State of Origin forward continues to add strings to his bow with ball-playing in the middle.

"I thought that was enormous," Slater said.

"He's got a bit of quality like that in his game. He's such a good carrier of the football and that's his real strength, but he's starting to put these other things into place as well.

"He's as professional as you get, Pat Carrigan, he's all in for his career and he doesn't leave anything to chance.

"You could imagine him at training all the time working on these combinations and skills that he wants to implement in his game and we're starting to see them come out now.

"At the end of the day, his true worth to the footy team is what he does with his running game and how quick he plays the ball and the amount of work he gets through.

"Now, he's starting to put a bit of cream on the top."