THE BOSS Maguire Stomped The Naysayers! But...8 Months Later, Here We Are.

[Battler]

Walsh being worth the money on the field is debatable, but Walsh being worth the money to the club as a whole isn’t. His value in sponsorship, marketing, membership and club exposure would be enormous. The club being a massive business, this unfortunately would be their justification of his enormous wage, all at the expense of team balance and depth.

His worth on the field isn't debatable. Are people already forgetting his form in the back of last year, which culiminated in him producing arguably the best ever individual performance in the sport's history in the GF? I'm thinking you pay big bucks to players to produce exactly what he did a few months ago.

It's no surprise that he's looked sub-par, by his standards, this year with our injury riddled forward pack getting dominated on a weekly basis and our geriatric HB who refuses to retire ball hogging

 

[Skathen]

His worth on the field isn't debatable. Are people already forgetting his form in the back of last year, which culiminated in him producing arguably the best ever individual performance in the sport's history in the GF? I'm thinking you pay big bucks to players to produce exactly what he did a few months ago.

It's no surprise that he's looked sub-par, by his standards, this year with our injury riddled forward pack getting dominated on a weekly basis and our geriatric HB who refuses to retire ball hogging

Walsh is regularly going to be a bit of a hot cold enigma. Hopefully it's more hot than cold, and hopefully it improves with age.

He is definitely not why we're losing though.

Our middle third depth is atrocious. Ben and Adam are way past it now and add in the injuries, and PC being massively out of form and this is the result.

 

[Cult]

I think him being a fullback gives him the chance to be hot and cold. As soon as he’s moved into the halves and doesn’t have to rely on cover defence and having to catch bombs the sooner he puts a consistent game together. His running and his kicking is his strength, that’s a five-eight and he will kill it there.

 

[Wolfie]

Names Wolfie. Otherwise we're contending with figments of your imagination.

I don't think you can have your cake and eat it as well. With Penrith in the mix, you either snag a premiership like the Broncos did or you end up an eternal bridesmaid like Cronulla.

Maybe I'd be harsh as well but after watching Melbourne struggle nobody is safe in this competition.

I dont have names i'm not a watcher these days, they are out there though!

 

[Broncapz]

Signing Reynolds for an extra year was such a Darius Boyd contract.

We did better in the GF when he was off. He nerfs us in the attacking zone by chewing up all the width and providing no running threat.

He can't make a break without doing a hammy/cramp.

Arthurs and Gojetski lack any kind of strength or threat.

Mam is in career worst form.

Carigan shouldn't expect a pay bump in the near future, that should probably go to our only consistant performars Karapani,Willison and Mariner.

 

[Mr Fourex]

I think him being a fullback gives him the chance to be hot and cold. As soon as he’s moved into the halves and doesn’t have to rely on cover defence and having to catch bombs the sooner he puts a consistent game together. His running and his kicking is his strength, that’s a five-eight and he will kill it there.

Will he handle the shift in defence demands.......? I'm not so sure.....

Its usually the weakness of fullbacks being shoved into the front line.

 

[Bucking Beads]

2025 wasn't a miracle and that is so reductive of what the team achieved last year. The R & R is fine, the issue is the players we need we have but they are all injured. It is so ridiculously hard to win a premiership and maintain it in the following years, Penrith are the complete exception and have made everyone think that is what happens. The only really ****ed decisions are keeping Reyno and Hunt this year but logically when they sad the wanted to go around again our hands were tied. It would be a ****ing shit look to turn to your captain after we have won the premiership and say nah.

Our R&R isn't fine though. Take a look at our squad. Sure injuries are hurting us but our depth is truly horrific. Lets not even start on how we are defending and playing in general tbh. Not much sack or ovaries have been shown by the team this year.

 

[Sproj]

Players off contract this year and what I hope Maguire does:
Arthars (let go - last night should be stamped never play again)
Duffy (re-sign on small contract)
Gosiewski (fire into the sun)
Hoeter (let go)
Bunt (tell him to retire - better for Pezet and Duffy to not have him hanging around like a bad smell in my opinion)
Junt (I actually like him but he is for some reason obviously blacklisted, so if Maguire isn't going to play him - let go)
Rogers (re-sign on a small contract - this is the kind of player we should be filling our squad with - seasoned players who can do a job and are happy to do so)
Difference (re-sign - issue is his age but he can fill a lot of roles, a great 18 jersey)
Shibasaki (let go unless he transitions into a second-rower, at 300k keep but at 600k let go)

The problem is that we have Mariner and Willison also available to other clubs in four months - need to re-sign them asap. Additionally, at the same time Poates, Jensen, Karapani, Mozer, Piakura, Jiki, Talty, Tawha, Te Kura all available too.

As it stands, we are also:
Haas (Souths) out -> Barnett (Warriors) in
Anderson (Warriors) out -> Pezet (Eels) in

Re-signed:
Semu (2028)
Piki (2028)
Poates (2027)
Verhoeven (2029)

There is a lot of scope above to re-shape the list we want but the question is, who do you want to bring in? Obviously, I don't watch the NRL, so I don't know who the good squad depth players are who are performing.

But these are names I recognise available 2026:
Smithies (Raiders), Rudolf (Sharks), Pouniu (Dolphins), Jolliffe (Titans), Blore (Storm), Capewell (Warriors), Gannon (Warriors), Lahrs (Cowboys), O'Donnell (Cowboys), Tuilagi (Eels), Walker (Eels), Jenkins (Panthers), Lawrie (Dragons), Talau (Roosters), Geyer (Tigers), Skelton (Tigers)

Available 2027:
Horsburgh (Raiders), Kris (Raiders), Savage (Raiders), Nicholson (Raiders), Preston (Bulldogs), Nikora (Sharks), Wilton (Sharks), Cobbo (Dolphins), Bostock (Dolphins), Farnworth (Dolphins), Finefuiaki (Dolphins), Flegler (Dolphins), Lemuelu (Dolphins), Nonu (Dolphins), Bai (Titans), Fotuaika (Titans), Morrin (Titans), Walsh (Sea Eagles), Xoates (Storm), Lisati (Storm), Ford (Warriors), Nanai (Cowboys), Edwards (Eels), Hopgood (Eels), Alamoti (Panthers), Cleary (It'll never happen), Leota (Panthers), Martin (Panthers), Papali'i (Panthers), Yeo (Panthers), Duncan (Rabbits), Difita (Rabbits), Graham (Rabbits), Couchman (Dragons), Couchman (Dragons), Pasifiki Tonga (Dragons), Walker (Roosters)

 

[Cult]

Will he handle the shift in defence demands.......? I'm not so sure.....

Its usually the weakness of fullbacks being shoved into the front line.

Does our current six handle the defence? Nope. Neither do our centres, second rowers, hookers or props. And if we can find a fullback that can catch a bomb we might defend less.

 

[GTB!]

Names Wolfie. Otherwise we're contending with figments of your imagination.

I don't think you can have your cake and eat it as well. With Penrith in the mix, you either snag a premiership like the Broncos did or you end up an eternal bridesmaid like Cronulla.

Maybe I'd be harsh as well but after watching Melbourne struggle nobody is safe in this competition.

BP I love how knowledgeable you are of the game and your insights, but you can't expect people will have the time to watch as much footy to rattle off names. There are people paid good money at the club to get this right for us. There are enough concerns to question whether these people are doing their jobs well.

Why for years do we have not an NRL quality back row back up when one of our starters is injured? Is there literally any other club with this problem? If you want a name than Hoskings comes to mind.

How come when Walsh gets injured we do not have an NRL quality replacement and use Arthars there as the first choice? When the dolphins have Fuller as there back up.

Why have we had too many hookers in the squad for years and none of them have a good running game?

I think these alone are objectively concerns the club should have addressed by now. It's not up to fans to fix these problems for them.

You mention Melbourne having a bad year. How many bad years have they had over the past 20 years? How many have we had? If storm can have sustained success why can't we? We are the Brisbane broncos ffs. We should never be losing 6 games in a row (2 of them against the bottom teams).

I also note that in the QLD under 19s squad there are 6 Melbourne players and only 3 broncos. This should not be happening.

I love having Walsh in our team and he did win us a premiership. But your highest paid players should rarely give you a performance less than a 7 out of 10. I wouldn't trade him but I get why people are frustrated. To be frank the only player I can think of that plays at a high level consistently for us is Haas, and he is leaving.

Maybe I'm naive but if Melbourne and penrith can build sustained success then I don't see why we can't either.

 

[Renegade]

I think him being a fullback gives him the chance to be hot and cold. As soon as he’s moved into the halves and doesn’t have to rely on cover defence and having to catch bombs the sooner he puts a consistent game together. His running and his kicking is his strength, that’s a five-eight and he will kill it there.

have been saying this for years. he will be a thurston in the halves.

 

[Cult]

have been saying this for years. he will be a thurston in the halves.

I don’t want him to be a whinging crybaby who hooks up with other players wives, living in a club sponsored house that for some reason wasn’t on the salary cap though!

 

[theshed]

When you pay a bloke like Walsh so much money, i think its fair to expect more than one outstanding run of form and a premiership. I just always have the expectation we should have higher standards.

I dont disagree, we took a short term option to win a premiership. If we want sustained success, we need to be better in every department.

Out of curiosity

Who are your top 5 players we over spent on during the last 5 years,

And who are your top 5 favourite broncos over the last 5 years?

 

[Renegade]

I don’t want him to be a whinging crybaby who hooks up with other players wives, living in a club sponsored house that for some reason wasn’t on the salary cap though!

Probably will need a minder tho if he's on the coast a bit.

 

[Wolfie]

Out of curiosity

Who are your top 5 players we over spent on during the last 5 years,

And who are your top 5 favourite broncos over the last 5 years?

Top 5 players we overspent on for me are Payne, Reece, Cobbo, Piakura, Mam. I find it difficult not to leave out Milford and Flegler. I will say i think all are quality players, but at one time or another i believe they got contracts more then they had earned or were worth. I think if i looked back on my posts they would all be the ones i mentioned in terms of salary.

Top 5 favourite players is difficult for me tbh, i dont have many favourites. Carrigan, Oates, Willison, Turpin, Glenn probably. Some not for football reasons.

 

[Cult]

There’s something about our players that makes other teams want to over spend to get them, which means we are forced to offer more than they’re worth to us. We no longer have an endless supply of Queensland talent to pick from (and haven’t for decades now), so we have to try to keep some of them.

Bennett used to say you don’t pay props a certain amount of money. We need to go back to that and stand firm, you either want to be here or go ruin your career at the Tigers or Souths, hey Fifita.

 

[BroncsFan]

There’s something about our players that makes other teams want to over spend to get them, which means we are forced to offer more than they’re worth to us. We no longer have an endless supply of Queensland talent to pick from (and haven’t for decades now), so we have to try to keep some of them.

Bennett used to say you don’t pay props a certain amount of money. We need to go back to that and stand firm, you either want to be here or go ruin your career at the Tigers or Souths, hey Fifita.

I think that's where things are going wrong for us.

Panthers can lose an Api, Kiks, Crichton, Luai, etc. because they know they've got a young guy coming through that can do the job for them anyway.

That means they can nail down their core group of players, who become non-negotiables... Cleary and Yeo mostly.

At the broncos we have FOMO, but we also dont have the conveyor belt of talent coming through anymore.

Are we overpaying for Piaks if we have 3 other second rowers coming through?

Cobbo got overpaid because he was getting lined up as our long term fullback... and then Reece came back. Are we overpaying for Cobbo if we had 2-3 other gun fullbacks coming through... Cobbo doesnt have much of a passing game either so was he really appropriate as the nailed on long term fullback in the first place.

The club has FOMO for sure, but they also dont have the luxury of losing one of the few talented guys they've managed to hold onto, because there isnt a queue of players coming through to take that spot.

 

[Big Pete]

BP I love how knowledgeable you are of the game and your insights, but you can't expect people will have the time to watch as much footy to rattle off names. There are people paid good money at the club to get this right for us. There are enough concerns to question whether these people are doing their jobs well.

Why for years do we have not an NRL quality back row back up when one of our starters is injured? Is there literally any other club with this problem? If you want a name than Hoskings comes to mind.

How come when Walsh gets injured we do not have an NRL quality replacement and use Arthars there as the first choice? When the dolphins have Fuller as there back up.

Why have we had too many hookers in the squad for years and none of them have a good running game?

I think these alone are objectively concerns the club should have addressed by now. It's not up to fans to fix these problems for them.

You mention Melbourne having a bad year. How many bad years have they had over the past 20 years? How many have we had? If storm can have sustained success why can't we? We are the Brisbane broncos ffs. We should never be losing 6 games in a row (2 of them against the bottom teams).

I also note that in the QLD under 19s squad there are 6 Melbourne players and only 3 broncos. This should not be happening.

I love having Walsh in our team and he did win us a premiership. But your highest paid players should rarely give you a performance less than a 7 out of 10. I wouldn't trade him but I get why people are frustrated. To be frank the only player I can think of that plays at a high level consistently for us is Haas, and he is leaving.

Maybe I'm naive but if Melbourne and penrith can build sustained success then I don't see why we can't either.

There's a real dirth in backrowers in the competition. A lot of clubs have had to move middles out there just to compensate and even at rep level we're seeing the likes of Reuben Cotter and Tom Gilbert play on an edge because the quality just isn't there.

From memory the Broncos were interested in signing Hosking but the Raiders came in and offered him more money than they should have. Ricky loves to horde backrows. The trade off is that they rarely get the balance right which is why they haven't made a splash in the post-season since 2019.

I don't rate Fuller that highly. That's down to junior development and that's a whole different conversation. Even so it's uncommon for clubs to have a quality back-up. Usually they have a versatile player who can go back there for a game or two. With Cobbo gone the club has been caught short.

Billy Walters is a running dummy half. The whole situation is a mess but it's an easy one to fix and I think it had it's intended affect. Hunt has his problems but I think his experience worked in the Broncos favour in the 2025 finals.

Nobody is asking the fans to fix things. It's not like Madge is going to read what you, Wolfie and I have to say and he's going to go ahead and make that change. It's more gauging about realistically what could have been done and whether it's fair to leverage that against the club.

Again Melbourne is a whole other conversation. The point being is that in this current age even a club with that level of consistensy is barrelling out. Who knows they could still very well play finals but they've already had been completely embarrassed this year. I just think it's the sign of the times. That was the point, if we're going 20 years of comparing Brisbane and Melbourne we could be here all day.

To your final point, it takes more than signing Jack Reed or Gehamat Shibasaki to build a dynasty. It also takes more than two seasons and who knows if Madge is even the right guy for that role.