'That's called an excuse': Michael Maguire brushes off injury toll after 'disappointing' Broncos loss

Broncos coach Michael Maguire has refused to use the club's injury toll as an excuse following a "disappointing" loss to an in-form Manly outfit.

The reigning premiers have been through the ringer to start this season, missing a host of key players at different stages and it was no different on Saturday night.

Payne Haas, Deine Mariner, Adam Reynolds, Corey Jensen and Brendan Piakura were among those sidelined due to injury against the Sea Eagles, while gun centre Kotoni Staggs was serving the first week of his two-game suspension.

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Brisbane did receive a late boost when veteran Ben Hunt returned early from a knee injury, but his injection wasn't enough in a 32-4 defeat.

Speaking post-game, Maguire chalked the performance up to fundamentals, with his side only completing at a measly 56 per cent at Brookvale Oval, resulting in only 39 per cent possession against a Manly team packed full of attacking weapons.

"It was disappointing, the boys unfortunately just didn't give themselves an opportunity with the lack of possession we had," Maguire said.

"That was the disappointing part, just silly fundamental errors cost us and trying to push passes when we just needed to roll the sleeves up.

"It was a disappointing night for us … we'll have to look pretty deeply at how we played."

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Maguire was then asked about the absence of multiple key players, but was in no mood to use that as a reason for Brisbane's second-straight loss.

"To be truthfully honest, that's called an excuse," he said.

"If you give yourself better completion rates, which is the game of footy, you'll put yourself into a better position than what we did tonight.

"I've got full confidence in those players in that changeroom, we came down here with a high expectation about how we go about things and we weren't able to do that.

"I thought they got better at training and that's why you have the expectations.

"Anyone who has slotted into those positions has been doing a really good job and we missed the mark tonight, it's as simple as that."

Broncos captain Pat Carrigan echoed the sentiments of his coach and denied the club's casualty ward had any bearing on the one-sided result.

"Not really - like Madge said, there's confidence that anyone who puts on a Broncos jersey is there to do a job," the representative forward said.

"I've got confidence when I run out with those blokes that they're more than capable.

"That would be an excuse [missing players], it is an excuse and when you only get 39 per cent of the footy and complete at the same rate, what hope do you have?

"Tonight we lacked discipline and completion and that's just fundamental skill."

Brisbane will look to return to the winner's circle when they face the New Zealand Warriors next weekend at Magic Round.