Michael Maguire has declared that the Brisbane team which will run out next year will be vastly different to the one which toiled throughout the 2024 campaign.
The Broncos' slide from grand finalists the previous year to also rans last season resulted in the club immediately sending out an SOS to the premiership-winning coach.
Maguire answered the call and has since settled into his new role at Red Hill where he has already identified areas of the side’s game which needs improvement, namely the defence.
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Michael Maguire highlights Brisbane’s defensive weaknesses
Brisbane's defensive statistics made for grim reading with only the bottom four teams, as well as St George Illawarra, conceding more points than them in 2024.
This was a far cry from the prior campaign where Kevin Walters’ side boasted the second-best defensive record in the league, behind only Penrith.
"In the defensive side of things we need to be stronger," Maguire told SEN Sportsday.
"The effort areas of what you do inside the defence...I want a team that wants to work really hard for each other. I’m big on effort and helping each other."
On the other side of the ball, the Broncos attack also malfunctioned in 2024 with their previously lightning quick transitions almost grinding to a complete halt at times.
This saw them finish with the ninth best attack in the league after possessing the second best in 2023.
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Maguire once again highlighted how this steep drop off in performance could mainly be attributed to effort areas that were sadly lacking.
"When you’ve got the ball, it’s about how you support each other," Maguire said.
To emphasise this point, the Broncos had just two players in their team register inside the top 50 for support runs in the league last season.
Kobe Hetherington ranked 32nd for the metric with 92 runs, while Jordan Riki landed in 46th spot with 87, per NRL.com.
The Broncos had four players in the top 50 for this in the previous campaign, with Kurt Capewell and Herbie Farnworth excelling in the area alongside Payne Haas and Riki.
"Looking from afar, there’s areas I like to have with the style of how we’re going to play," Maguire added.
"It will be different to what you’ve seen."
