Brisbane Broncos head coach Michael Maguire has revealed he believes his side can still make the finals as they look to defend last year's premiership.
After a mixed start to the campaign where the Red Hill-based side lost their first two and then won five of their next six, it has been a tale of woe for the Broncos.
They have now lost eight games on the bounce, including to the St George Illawarra Dragons and Gold Coast Titans at the bottom of the table, with the latest coming during the Origin-hit Round 18 on Saturday evening against the Cronulla Sharks.
While the Broncos could have pointed to stars being in Origin camp, there were exceptionally worrying signs around their structures and efforts, with the criticism against Maguire and his well-documented coaching methods growing week on week.
The loss leaves the Broncos in 15th spot on the table, and while they still have a bye to go, they are eight points out of the top eight, and very likely needing to win at least seven, or potentially even all eight, of their last eight games this year.
Maguire though said he believes his side can still make the finals.
“Well why not?” he asked during his post-match press conference when quizzed.
“I've got a lot of belief in the team. I've got a lot of belief in the group.
“We have got a lot of guys that have been coming into the game, that I guess if you had everyone healthy, they wouldn't be playing.
“But we're getting a lot of blokes that are getting experience now and we'll get obviously a lot of people coming back over the next couple of weeks.
“So that's the reason why I believe in them.”
Maguire confirmed he should have a full strength squad after next weekend's bye, but there will be no adjustment time or wiggle room for the Broncos if they want to play knockout footy in 2026.
The immediate concern is stopping the eight-game slide that is just three more poor performances away from becoming the equal-worst losing streak of any side this season.
But with the Penrith Panthers (away), North Queensland Cowboys (away), Newcastle Knights (home), Dolphins (away), New Zealand Warriors (home), Canberra Raiders (away), Melbourne Storm (home) and Canterbury Bulldogs (away) on the menu during the run home, the chance of making finals is slim.
Maguire indicated that with Billy Walters also fit, he is unsure of what his spine will look like next time they take to the field against Penrith, and admitted his side will need to be better in its attention to detail than they were against Cronulla.
“Yeah they were, a bit of attention to detail there definitely cost us, but the effort from the players was excellent,” he said.
“They're fighting, you know, and they're working hard to get the result, to flip it from where we are at the moment. Again, it wasn't our night.
“But the fight and the effort in the players has been excellent.”
