Brisbane Broncos legend Corey Parker has called on the playing group to get it together or leave amid reports coach Michael Maguire has lost the dressing room at Red Hill.
Maguire, who coached the Broncos to a drought-breaking premiership in his first year at the club, has struggled to keep the good times rolling in 2026.
After a mixed start to the year, the Broncos have slumped to eight straight losses - now the second-worst losing streak of any side this season - and are on track to put in one of the worst seasons by a defending premier in the game's history.
Brisbane's latest loss, against the Cronulla Sharks on Saturday evening, saw the criticism continue to flow towards Maguire, with reports suggesting the club is weighing up his future and that he has lost the dressing room over his well documented training methods.
As it stands, Maguire is contracted with the Broncos beyond the end of this season, but the club's ruthless decision in axing Kevin Walters before Maguire took over shows it will take no prisoners if it believes change is needed.
Parker though, speaking on Channel 7's The Agenda Setters, said the idea that Maguire has lost the dressing room is outrageous, pointing at the recent history of the club burning through coaches as the reason why.
“Now the noise coming out of Brisbane, and it's deafening, and it will not go away, is that Michael Maguire has lost the playing group," Parker said on the show, aired on Monday evening.
“This is outrageous.
“Now, you go back six or seven years, Anthony Seibold was given the head coaching role of the Brisbane Broncos. Now, Anthony Seibold was deemed to be too complicated, a little bit too technical so he gets sacked.
“Then the next person to come into the reign is Kevin Walters for four years. He was then deemed to be too laid back, too casual. (He) went to a grand final in 2023, was 18 to 20 minutes away from getting a victory.
“Then they bring in Madge Maguire, who we know has this hard edge about him, but was exactly what the Broncos needed.
“Now he's too hard. He was the only coach in the last 19 years to take them to the promised land, and to hear that he has now lost the playing group, or he's not the guy for the job, is outrageous."
Maguire, who won a premiership with the South Sydney Rabbitohs in his infancy before growing stale, had a torrid time at the Wests Tigers and then coached the New Zealand national side, and the NSW Blues, to famous victories before taking over at the Broncos.
His first season in charge, followed by a drop off, continues the narrative that he is an excellent short-term coach, but that his methods are ultimately too full on to expect long-term success.
Parker though, said it was the players who were to blame, and that the club needed to make a public show of support for Maguire.
“The one thing that I do know from my long time of being at the Brisbane Broncos, no one player is bigger than the club," he said.
“If players do not want to be there, they need to go. They just do.
“If Madge Maguire is your man, then you need to hear from the CEO, you need to hear from the chairman because… the stories are going around about if Madge Maguire signs on, there's gonna be a mass exodus of players.
“If that is the case, big deal.
“So for me, it's not a coach problem. One was too complicated, one was too laid back, and now one's too hard.
“So which one is it?”
