The Brisbane Broncos have revealed Jordan Riki has not fallen out with coach Michael Maguire, and the club are still confident of retaining his signature beyond the end of 2027.
Surprise echoed through the NRL earlier this week when it was revealed Riki was heading to free agency on November 1, with reports suggesting he had fallen out with coach Michael Maguire.
Maguire has come under fire for his training methods, and there have been plenty of suggestions that he lost the dressing room during the second half of 2026 as the Broncos slumped from defending premiers to the bottom four on the NRL ladder.
Riki is just one of a host of players who struggled for form over the second half of the year, but Brisbane head of football Troy Thompson has revealed to News Corp that Riki has no issues with the coach.
“Jordan is overseas at the moment, he is on leave,” Thomson said.
“I haven't spoken to Jordan directly, but I'm not aware of anything that's been reported (about a rift with Maguire) so that's news to me.”
Instead, it's reported that Riki wants to head to free agency to understand his market value - which will likely be expontentially above the $500,000 he is currently on at Red Hill.
The value for all players is on the increase, but second-rowers in particular are seeing increases.
Jacob Preston recently agreed to an extension with the Bulldogs believed to be around $850,000 per year, while both Hudson Young and Liam Martin are in negotiations with their clubs around deals that crack the seven-figure mark.
It's believed the New Zealand Warriors are interested in Riki, with the club knowing they will need to replace Kurt Capewell at the end of 2027 as he likely heads into retirement, while other clubs could also make a play.
November 1 is a date Riki is likely to reach, but Thompson can see no reason why he won't remain a Bronco.
“Jordan is off contract at the end of 2027. I thought he played pretty well this year and there is nothing there (regarding a release)," he told the publication.
“He can't talk to anyone until November 1, we haven't given him permission to talk and his manager hasn't come to us either requesting that.”
Brisbane's salary cap is tight, regardless of what Thompson and his staff may or may not beconfident of.
Payne Haas' departure eased some pressure, but all of that money and then some has been used on the arrival of Mitch Barnett and looming extension for Xavier Willison.
The club have other big-money deals out for Reece Walsh, Kotoni Staggs, Ezra Mam and Patrick Carrigan among others, while they also welcome Shawn Blore to the club at the start of 2027 from the Melbourne Storm, alongside Jonah Pezet from the Parramatta Eels who, at the time of his signing, was earmarked as the successor to Adam Reynolds in the club's number seven jumper.
