Michael Maguire forced into huge backflip after reversing Kevin Walters decision

Yahoo

3 days ago

Michael Maguire has finally made the call to move Patrick Carrigan back to lock as Broncos board member Darren Lockyer refused to guarantee the coach's future at the club if they fail to make the eight. Maguire cut a 'grim' figure in the coaching box on the weekend as he watched Manly put 34 on his team at Brookvale Oval. Maguire even addressed his team behind closed doors after the embarrassing result in a rare move from the coach.
The Broncos have now lost six of their last seven games with the club finishing the round in 12th place. On Tuesday, Kotoni Staggs slapped down suggestions there is player unrest at the club with talks Maguire's style of coaching is taking its toll on the players.
Staggs and Adam Reynolds denied this claim and said the players have let down the side. But Maguire has finally wilted and dropped Hetherington from the starting XIII. Only days after his arrival in Brisbane, Maguire reversed the decision from previous coach Kevin Walters on Hetherington's future.
Under Walters, Hetherington appeared to be on his way out the door with the coach looking elsewhere in his forward stocks. But Maguire liked Hetherington's work rate in defence and has started him at lock in every game so far.
This saw Carrigan move to the front-row alongside Payne Haas. However, as the losses have stacked up for Brisbane, calls have grown for Carrigan to move back into his preferred position. And Maguire finally decided Hetherington's form in attack was not good enough after last week's effort.
Hetherington only ran for 29 metres against Manly on Saturday. While he made 37 tackles in his 47 minutes on the field, his efforts in attack were uninspiring. Hetherington averages 69 metres a game in 2025, but only has three tackle breaks across the season.
And Maguire has moved Hetherington to the bench for the first time in 2025 and shifted Carrigan back to lock. This allows another bigger body to start in the front-row with Corey Jenson moving alongside Haas. Maguire will be hoping Carrigan can also help ignite the failing Broncos attack with some of his ball-playing abilities at lock.
the park that brought the club so close to a premiership in 2023.The now prop's output that year at lock is on average more than double Hetherington's in some categories like run metres where Carrigan averaged over 125 metres a match.
— JOSH BIRD (@palejawsh) June 2, 2025
On Tuesday, club legend and board member Lockyer refused to guarantee Maguire would be at the club if their season continues to unravel after a telling comment. Questions are being asked of Maguire halfway through the season after the Broncos started the campaign so strongly, only to be outside the top eight during the State of Origin schedule.
On the weekend, Penrith legend Greg Alexander was left bewildered at the capitulation of the Broncos with a number of representative players still in the squad. "I don't know where Michael Maguire goes to from here…there has got to be some improvement, but where?' Alexander said in commentary.
After their loss to the Sea Eagles on Saturday night, Maguire locked his players away behind closed doors to deliver his post-mortem. The coach and players usually sit in a room where cameras are present, and the vision is often shown on Fox League or Channel 9.
But on Saturday night, Maguire took his players to a separate part of the locker room that doesn't have cameras, and closed off the area so no-one else could gain access. Maguire was clearly feeling the pressure after yet another loss.
And speaking on the QLDER show, Lockyer made a telling comment when asked whether Maguire's job was safe if the team continues their free-fall. "If you we don't make the top eight, given what we thought at the start the year and the early signs, that would be a disappointment," Lockyer said on the show.
Lockyer didn't go in to any further detail, but claimed Maguire's coaching style is very different to that of former coach Walters. Maguire was brought into give the Broncos a hard edge after the team went from the 2023 NRL grand final to missing the top eight in 2024. While Maguire's coaching career at the Broncos started well, second-half capitulations have seen the side drop six of their last seven games.