The Brisbane Broncos' premiership defence season has failed to live up to its potential, and after such a strong finals series headlined by Reece Walsh last year, the club has failed to get out of first gear in 2026.
What hasn't helped the Broncos is their horror injury run, which at times was the worst in the competition, with their lethal attacking spine spending chunks of the season on the sidelines.
Not only did Walsh, Patrick Carrigan, Adam Reynolds, Ben Hunt among others spend plenty of time on the sidelines, they suffered one of the rarest injuries in NRL history, with Deine Mariner undergoing five surgeries, deemed to be limb-saving, on compartment syndrome in his thigh.
Outside of their injuries on the sidelines, what was happening on the NRL field wasn't what fans were hoping to see in 2026, with the club sitting in 13th place on the ladder with five wins and 10 losses to their campaign.
Coach Michael Maguire knows how to win premierships, although given that Kevin Walters was thrown out the door 12 months after he took his side to a Grand Final, should Broncos fans expect Maguire to have the same fate?
The win/loss record is shaping up against him as the season progresses, and the team is currently sitting at seven losses in a row for a side who should be competing to go back-to-back.
Maguire comes off-contract at the end of 2027 and risks losing the playing group if they continue to lose and not yield any results.
“There's more rumblings coming out of Red Hill this week about team harmony and whether everyone is on the same page, and that's going to continue until they start winning some football matches,” journalist Brent Read said on Triple M's Sunday Sinbin.
“They can't re-sign Maguire, they can't do it. They'll have a mass exodus if that happens. I think players will leave if they re-sign Maguire. I think that will happen, yes.
“I can't imagine they'll extend him, I think if they do it will be madness.”
It doesn't make the situation any easier in Brisbane after the fact that the NRL's best forward in Payne Haas, decided to leave the club next year and sign a multi-year deal with the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
Former assistant coach Ben Te'o also had a highly publicised verbal stoush with Maguire in the opening weeks of the season, resulting in him walking out on the club.
Triple M's Ben Dobbin also chimed in on the situation, suggesting there could be some unrest at Red Hill and players are creeping towards the exits.
“Jesse Arthars was just given an offer by Brisbane and just declined it. Didn't even entertain it,” Dobbin said.
“I found that strange.
“We all hear the stories. The talk is that… it's a very, very, very mentally demanding program. But it got them a premiership last year, and you can't be critical of that.
“There are players that are agitating to leave, there's no question.”
Although Broncos legend Corey Parker has given his take on the form slump of his former side, suggesting their attitude hasn't been sufficient, despite the horror injury toll.
"Look, there's been a lot of mitigating things. The worst injury toll in the club's history, that's number one," Parker said on Channel 7's Agenda Setters: Rugby League.
"Then from an attitude point of view, you touched on it there, Woodsy, just because you've got some injuries, a lot of teams have been through that, you should still be able to facilitate your role. And I think there's been a number of games this year from the Brisbane Broncos where, arguably, they would walk off and wouldn't be able to look each other in the eye.
"There'd be a fair bit of looking left and right, but not straight in the eye. And until such time, I think it was Payne Haas a number of weeks ago where he just said, let's just call all the BS the way it is."
With seven consecutive losses to their name, they have marked the worst losing streak as title champions since 1953 with the Western Suburbs, accumulating 73-years between the two dates.
The Broncos face a near-impossible task to make the Top 8 this year, and would have to win eight of their last nine matches to be in with a chance to play in September.
Considering they play the Panthers, Dolphins, Cowboys and Warriors in some of those nine remaining games, it shapes up as a massive assignment.
They will look to get things kicked-off when they host the Cronulla Sharks on Saturday.
