"Outrageous": Parker defends Maguire amid player unrest rumours

Broncos legend Corey Parker has fired back at reports Michael Maguire has lost the Brisbane playing group, labelling them “outrageous” as the club battles an eight-game losing streak.

The defending premiers sit second last after 18 rounds, only ahead of the Dragons who have two wins all season.

It’s a far cry from the side which won the premiership in 2025 on the back of an incredible finals run of upsets.

The Broncos 2026 season currently sits as the worst performing season of any side following a premiership year in the NRL era, and the worst since the Western Suburbs Magpies back in 1953.

As rumours continue to swirl around a potential mass exodus of players should Maguire be re-signed, Parker has taken aim, believing the reports are “outrageous” one year after Maguire delivered a premiership to Red Hill.

“The other night's performance is a catalyst I think of where the Broncos are at the moment,” Parker said on Channel 7’s The Agenda Setters.

“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.

“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.

“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.

“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?”