Newly recruited Rabbitohs superstar Brandon Smith has delivered a blunt message to Broncos avid gamers unsatisfied with their remedy through trainer Michael Maguire: ‘Man up’.
Smith performed beneath Maguire all through his tenure on the helm of the Kiwis. The enigmatic ahead admitted he, too, had problems with Maguire when he first performed beneath him, however sooner or later purchased in to what he used to be promoting.
“I feel like once we got over the time under Madge, once I and other players got over that and bought into what he was trying to do with us and really bit the bullet and did everything, no complaints, that’s when we started to elevate as a team,” Smith stated on The Bye Round podcast.
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“Maybe that’s what needs to go on at the Broncos. Maybe a few of them haven’t bought into what Madge is about and instead of seeing what the benefits are you’re looking at the negative side of things and that happens in every rugby league team.
The Broncos are battling to keep their season on track. NRL Photos
“Say you are coaching a protracted day, you are disappointed on the trainer for that and then you definitely develop this little little bit of resentment in opposition to the trainer. That came about with me with Madge on the Kiwis.
“It was hard until you grow that little bit but once you finally f—ing go, ‘I’m actually getting paid well to do this … it’s not that hard that I’m going to die. It’s just hard compared to what the norm was’.
“I reckon that is precisely what is going on on the Broncos. But that is simply my opinion and I think like now not they all have purchased into what he is about.”
Smith said all training sessions – including the captain’s runs on game-day eve – were longer and harder under Maguire than any other coach.
Now at the Rabbitohs, Brandon Smith urged Broncos players to “guy up”. Getty
“Everything is adapted so that you can be laborious … he desires other folks to guy up and a few other folks do not,” he said.
“I’ll be truthful, I almost definitely do not now and again.”
On Tuesday night, Broncos great Gorden Tallis floated a theory as to why Maguire isn’t likely to face the axe this season, despite the Broncos floundering in an eerily similar position to the one they found themselves in 12 months ago.
After 11 rounds last year, the Broncos were in the eight but Kevin Walters was sacked when their form tailed off and finished two wins outside the playoffs. They currently sit ninth and are sliding into obscurity.
“Why had been they off ultimate yr? I’ll simply ask a query, that they had extra accidents, however now there may be excuses,” Tallis said on Fox Sports’ NRL 360.
“There should not be excuses. This is a premiership-winning organisation and this can be a premiership-winning roster.”
Tallis suggested the board members who pushed for Maguire’s appointment would be hesitant to see the coach out the door because that would in turn make their decision making look poor for appointing him in the first place.
“They can not (sack Maguire) as a result of that they had this cooked up and that is the fellow that they sought after,” Tallis stated.
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“Publicly indexed corporate. They sack a man on Thursday. They put him in on Friday. This is the fellow they head-hunted for the activity.
“So they can’t now because there will be be egg on their face and their jobs will be under pressure.”
The loss got here beneath a backdrop of unrest throughout the staff, with Marty Taupau splitting with the membership ultimate week after ‘liking’ an Instagram publish important of Maguire and his training kinds.
While indirectly addressing the Taupau saga, Smith stated the problem throughout the Broncos should be coming from the avid gamers.
“I’m going to put it on the players. You’re complaining about what your coach is teaching you,” Smith stated.
“He’s your f—ing coach. He’s your coach for a reason. You’ve got to buy into what his system is.
“If you have got part the folks purchasing in and part the folks now not, your staff’s now not going to serve as correctly … I do not know if this is occurring however I’m talking from enjoy.
“You’ve got half the team complaining about him and you’ve got half the team really excited they’ve got a new coach that wants to win.
“Madge is a f—ing competitor. He hates shedding. He’s a difficult bastard. He’s an intense guy.
“But at the end of the day, his goal aligns with your goal in winning games … his method of winning games is taking the hard route and if you’re not buying into that hard route, you’re not with the team. (That’s) not team mentality.”
“Players, we shouldn’t have any say on what the coach does … if you’re speaking up about that maybe you’re the problem.”