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Arise, Sir Madge: The rugby league coach who's won almost everything
Marcus Forbes • October 6th, 2025 3:13 pm
Photo: Steve Markham/AAP
Michael Maguire is the new poster boy for the coach who’s done it all - well, almost.
Midway through the 2025 NRL season there were loud rumours and reports that the Brisbane Broncos playing group were disgruntled with their coach.
They were apparently not happy at the amount of work they were being made to do and how tough Maguire was on them in the pre-season.
The suggestions were loud that they were over-trained and burnt out. And on the NRL table they were doing it tough.
Whether there was an ounce of truth to that or not remains to be seen.
But, it’s funny how things change.
Today, Maguire woke up with a coaching resume highlighted by almost every rugby league trophy worth winning - Super League, NRL (twice), State of Origin, a World Club Challenge and the Pacific Championship.
If New Zealand Rugby League had kept him at the helm of the Kiwis, that trophy cabinet could've potentially included a World Cup next year.
Not bad for a bloke who was supposedly so bad the Wests Tigers powers that be decided to punt him.
I’m not ashamed to say I thought the Broncos had played their Grand Final last week when they beat Penrith in the dying stages of an amazing game to book their ticket to Sydney.
And I figured the Storm would romp home and take the Provan-Summons Trophy south to Melbourne again.
Like many, I was absolutely wrong. And again, I’m not ashamed to say that.
Photo: Dan Himbrechts/AAP
The sheer fact the Broncos walked away with the NRL title is testament to Maguire’s coaching capability. You can’t conjure that up with magic.
It also says a lot about the teams that have failed under him.
Some of those boards should be looking at that and asking themselves some hard questions.
Will they? Of course not.
Madge is an old school, tough coach. His training sessions are legendary for being brutal and often leaving players in the hurt locker.
And sometimes that’s not for everyone.
It seems currently that’s not for a lot of people, and in some circumstances, the right chat to the CEO or a member of the board can result in the CEO’s curse being delivered: “he’s definitely with us for the rest of the season”.
Madge has done it all, done it tough, and quite honestly, has every right to class himself in the master-coach category when he fills in the next League census form.
And for a bloke who’s still quite young when it comes to career coaches, he’s probably got a few titles in him.
Watch out, this may in fact be the start of a new Broncos dynasty.
Issac Luke's story of training under the 'unconventional' Michael Maguire | Scotty & Izzy
