‘Welcome to Brisbane’: Michael Maguire grilled by Brisbane media over the bombshell Ben Te’o coaching decision

“Welcome to the Broncos”.

That’s the message Brisbane coach Michael Maguire has received from his players as the club continues to deal with unwanted drama after unwanted drama, headlined by the shock call by assistant coach Ben Te’o to quit three rounds into their premiership defence.

An alleged verbal altercation between Maguire and his defensive guru heading into last week’s grand final rematch against the Storm sealed the deal, with Te’o reportedly also upset that the club blocked him from working with Billy Slater’s Queensland coaching staff.

Te’o tendered his resignation on Tuesday in the latest blow to the club, which has lost superstar prop Payne Haas to the Rabbitohs in 2027, while club legend Gorden Tallis and the Broncos have fallen out over his comments regarding the coach and how they handled skipper Adam Reynolds’ rib injury.

“It’s been a busy week (with) things that you don’t expect to happen,” Maguire said at Thursday’s press conference where he tried to deflect attention to Friday’s clash with the Dolphins.

“You’ve got to deal through those and you’ve got to remember you’re dealing with people. That’s the important part here.

“And we’ve got to move forward because we’ve got a big game and I’ll talk a lot about how important this game is because I felt our second half against Melbourne was the team that I know and I think the team that everyone’s talking about.

“The reasons why we have these conversations is that they’re able to get out and play to where we know they can.

“And so it was really nice to see the boys in that space. And we’ve got to back it up now and build on that consistency that I know this team’s got in them. That is something there that we’ve got to focus on.”

Maguire was asked flat out at one stage what the disagreement with Te’o was about.

“He submitted his resignation and we’ve taken that, so that’s all I’m going to talk about,” he said.

There were suggestions that the veteran coach was unwilling to take advice from his assistants, even from someone like Te’o who helped him win a title when they worked together at the Rabbitohs in 2014.

“I take advice from many people. I actually really enjoy taking advice from people.” Maguire said.

“I probably do less coaching now than I ever have, to be honest. As a young coach, you’re fairly full on, and people have probably spoken about that over my journey as a coach.

“But through the journey to where I’m at at the moment, I enjoy bringing staff on and people on.”

Maguire said he wasn’t in any rush to find a replacement for Te’o, who was in charge of the team’s defence and also served as the blue shirt trainer who relays messages on the field.

“We’ve got processes and things in place already, and you’ve got to remember I’ve got a pretty smart playing group,” he said.

“I’ve got some experience there across the group itself, and you’ve got to remember the year that they’ve just been through. So we’re 12 months on, and that 12 months on gives the experience of how we are as a team.

“You saw that last Friday, and we’ve got to replicate that. Being able to do that is from a lot more of the players now. So coaching in the systems that we’re in now that we’re 12 months on does become a lot easier. It’s just about applying yourself.”

Maguire was also asked what was so wrong at the club given the unwanted headlines over the past few weeks.

“Well, the performance that I saw last Friday pretty well determines how I believe you look at a football team,” he replied, with Haas playing through a shoulder injury that has ruled him out of the Dolphins derby.

“They dug in for each other, they supported each other. Payne Haas came out after halftime when I guess he probably didn’t need to, but it was incredible. So it says a lot about where they’re at at the moment.

“And look, things go on in any organisation. But what we’ve got to recognise is that if we go out tomorrow night and we play the way we can, we’ll give ourselves a great night. And that’s what we need to focus on.”

Brisbane players have all spoken about how much Te’o has done for the club, with all eyes on the code’s biggest club to see how they respond to another turbulent week just a few months after they ended their premiership drought.

“We’ve got a game tomorrow night mate, and the game keeps moving,” Maguire said when asked if he was under pressure.

“There’s an expectation from everyone, the people that support this club.

“I got to feel what it felt like to have success around the place. It’s pretty damn special, and that’s what I’m respecting. I’m respecting that we’ve got to make sure that we’re ready to head straight tomorrow night.”