Cast your mind back to Origin 2 at the MCG on June 26 earlier this year. All the build-up was focused on the Maroons completing the series and heading for the whitewash at Suncorp.
The NSW Blues coach was considered a caretaker unlikely to move the dial. The Maroons were rampant, and how could this guy that had been sacked by the worst team in the NRL, do a better job than Freddy Fittler.
Game 1 had ended up a decisive win for Billy Slater’s Maroons, 38-10, though the 8th-minute sending off of Joseph Sua’ali’i was with hindsight an even bigger impact on the battle than we realised at the time.
Frequent camera cutaways in Game 1 to the NSW box showed their new coach, “Madge” Maguire watching on without too much emotion, a cold, hard gaze on proceedings going badly. Not an easy situation for the baptism of a new coach and securing a new record loss for the Blues at home in Sydney.
Many coaches would have been like a rabbit in headlights but he kept it together, said all the right words post-match, and most importantly galvanised his troops to deliver brutality in Game 2 at the MCG.
And so Billy’s Maroons found themselves down 34-0 at halftime! The Blues had gone from zeros to heroes. That was an extraordinary turnaround because Billy would not have allowed any early crows or chest-beating, the Maroons were ready to win and the Blues under Maguire destroyed them.
So now we have the destroyer of Maroons dreams, as head coach at Red Hill.
Maguire also coached New Zealand to a 30-0 win against the Kangaroos last year and the Kiwis were desperate to keep him.
The appointment appears to be an act of genius by the Broncos board.
Only time will tell, it seems amazing how quickly the board forgot about Kevvie’s 2023 Grand Final run, where only the Cleary Mafia could have destroyed Kevvie’s season that day. The 2024 disaster – an errant season that can happen at Red Hill, ask Anthony Seibold, a quality coach that could not get any tune out of the Broncos.
Brisbane is a city where frankly life can be too easy. The omnipresent sun, quality eateries on every corner, Bronco fans everywhere, a beautiful home stadium that is now the home of the Magic Round, sellouts even in terrible seasons. It’s no wonder that Wayne the former Ipswich copper, was the man to find the right balance between discipline and man management.
The naysayers will want to point to Madge being shunted by the Tigers and the Rabbits, but what he did a few months ago against the Maroons should not be forgotten, it was mission impossible and yet he delivered for the Blues.
Let’s hope he can do the same for the Broncos in 2025.