Phil Gould calls out dressing room claims at the Broncos after players hit back

Yahoo

a day ago

NRL supremo Phil Gould has rubbished suggestions the Broncos players look like they are lacking effort having backed Michael Maguire to make the 'mental' adjustments to turn things around. Gould watched Daly Cherry-Evans and the Manly Sea Eagles destroy the Broncos last Saturday as they put 34 on Brisbane in a dismal display.
Despite boasting representative players such as Payne Haas, Patrick Carrigan, Reece Walsh and Adam Reynolds in their squad, the Broncos sit in 12th on the ladder. The defeat to the Sea Eagles also marked their sixth in seven games as the playing group look bereft of ideas out on the field when things are going against them.
While Maguire has moved to make selection changes this week with Carrigan moving back to lock, the coach is facing scrutiny after a strong start to the season. Both Ben Ikin and Darren Lockyer made telling comments about Maguire's position at the club after his latest loss piled on the pressure.
Although Gould has slammed suggestions the players are not on board with Maguire's style. Speaking on his Wide World of Sports podcast Six Tackles with Gus, the Bulldogs general manager feels the players are trying too hard during their form slump and overplaying their hand.
"When you see a side like that, all of sudden it's the players are off with the coach, the coach has lost the dressing room... that's rubbish, I don't see that at all," he said. "That's what people saw about any club struggling when they expected better. I think people get influenced by the scoreboard a lot when they critique these performances.
"I'm watching the game and I'm not seeing a lack of effort, I'm not seeing a lack of care. I certainly can't label them with that. In fact, I think sometimes they are their own worst enemy because they are over trying."
Gould feels the players are trying hard, but lack cohesion and a clear plan when they find themselves down on the scoreboard. Although the former NSW coach believes if Maguire can find the switch, it could see a massive change in the powerful Broncos side stacked with talent.
Gould feels it isn't due to a lack of physicality or skill that has seen the Broncos lose six of their last seven games. But rather the change in momentum will come internally with Maguire needing to reframe the mindset of the playing group that he has inherited. And he also feels the players need to change their view on how the season will turn around.
"I think the problems with them mainly are mental...I think these are things they just need to settle down, it is not going to be solved overnight," he added. "They just need to take a breath of fresh air, sit and relax, and get into that room full of mirrors where they can all take accountability for what's going wrong and sort it out."
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Both Kotoni Staggs and captain Adam Reynolds have slapped down the suggestion there is player unrest at the club after the weekend's loss. Speculation was mounting Maguire's rigged training regime had taken its toll on some of the players. This prompted Penrith legend Greg Alexander to rip into the reports.
"Don't let me think that Brisbane players are whingeing because Michael Maguire is too hard on them. Cry me a river, you little wusses," Alexander said on SEN Radio this week. "If that is true, none of them deserve to be playing NRL. "I can't believe it's true because I can't believe that experienced NRL players would be bitching and whingeing because Michael Maguire keeps them there too long."
However, Reynolds led the charge and dismissed such claims heading into round 15. "It's easy for the outside noise to obviously try and tear the team apart and the coaching staff," Reynolds said on Channel Nine.
"Look, we're working hard, we're just like any other team who train hard. Everyone can write what they want to write, but internally we know we're capable of doing some great things here, and Madge is the right man leading us forward."