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“You can put things in front of the group, but if the group doesn’t buy in, then it doesn’t work.”
It has been these desperate moments which lifted Brisbane from the doldrums, and proved Maguire’s tough love was worth it.
Round 16: Broncos 34 def Sharks 28
Brisbane broke a four-game losing streak in their last outing against the cellar-dwelling Titans, but appeared destined to fall back into old habits against Cronulla.
Yet, trailing 28-12 inside the final half-an-hour, the resilience Maguire sought began to show.
“We were a team who knew we could score points, but when something went wrong or didn’t go our way, there were times we had fallen off,” Broncos second rower Jordan Riki said.
“Last year was a theme for that. We definitely built a lot of resilience, confidence and concentration playing to the final whistle.”
Four tries in 18 minutes secured a comeback win, but two moments of defensive fortitude set it up.
Some desperate cover defence after a Briton Nikora line-break kept the lead from growing, with a Ronaldo Mulitalo error on Cronulla’s next set orchestrating Josiah Karapani’s first try.
Karapani was at it again once they had taken the lead, getting to an in-goal grubber to save the day.
But the sheer number of Broncos who halted Nikora were the greatest sign Maguire’s group was playing for each other.
“I strongly believe that wins you games, especially when things don’t go your way,” Riki said.
“If you stick together and really trust the process it will come out in the long run.”
Round 18: Broncos 22 def Bulldogs 18
Behind 18-0 with 20 minutes remaining – without Pat Carrigan, Payne Haas, Reece Walsh, Ben Hunt, Corey Jensen, Jesse Arthars and Gehamat Shibasaki – the Broncos turned their ferocious defence into a momentum swing.
Deine Mariner’s decision to jam-in on Viliame Kikau on his own try-line forced a spilled ball, with Kotoni Staggs scooping it up and streaking downfield.
On the following phase, the play was shifted to the left, with Karapani scoring their first try.
Tries to Delouise Hoeter, Billy Walters and Brendan Piakura swiftly followed, before Karapani came up with a punishing hit to force the ball loose on the Bulldogs’ last roll of the dice.
Round 24: Broncos 38 def Dolphins 28
A halftime deadlock was broken within two plays, as Dolphins fullback Trai Fuller scored a scintillating solo try.
His side’s lead quickly grew to 14 points, only for Walsh’s wizardry to turn the tide.
The fullback’s 40/20 led straight to Mariner scoring, with the very next set producing some magic.
The decision to run the ball on last play ended with a desperate Shibasaki offload and crossfield Walters kick, with Karapani scoring to confirm the fightback was on.
Qualifying Final: Broncos 29 def Raiders 28
This was the ultimate culmination of Maguire’s off season torture sessions.
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“When things got tough, and we were in those gruelling wrestling sessions in the Brisbane heat, he’d march around with a big grin on his face - ‘this wins you championships, boys’,” Riki recalls, laughing.
“I truly do believe if we didn’t go through that and endure that preseason we wouldn’t be here where we are today.”
Brisbane’s golden point victory of the Raiders will be remembered for Walsh’s brilliance against a 16-point deficit, two overturned decisions after Canberra celebrated a win, and Hunt’s 94th minute field goal.
But two moments must be remembered.
The Raiders looked destined to extend their lead to at least 20 points when Zac Hosking hit a hole close to the line, only for Shibasaki to produce a match-saving tackle and force a knock-on.
From the following set, Walsh scored the try which triggered a procession.
In the final seconds of extra time, the Raiders created an overlap, only for Mariner’s remarkable intercept to force golden point.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Preliminary Final: Broncos 16 def Panthers 14
Down 14-0 against the four-time defending champions, Brisbane needed a bit of luck – tries to Staggs and Willison courtesy of loose balls after it ricocheted off Panthers’ defenders.
Before that, however, the game could have been buried, if not for Riki’s crunching one-on-one tackle on Nathan Cleary – one of the Broncos’ 40 inside their own 20-metre line – as the Penrith maestro ran the ball on the last play.
Still trailing, Haas briefly became Brisbane’s fullback as he dove on a grubber.
The juggernaut prop later led the charge to prevent Cleary’s final minute two-point field goal attempt, forcing him to shift the play wide, where Dylan Edwards’ hurried attempt came short.
As it turned out, all the Broncos needed was time to adapt to Maguire’s regimen.
“For us to be able to evolve and adapt,” Riki said, “if we weren’t able to do that we wouldn’t be here.”
