Former Wigan Warriors boss in line for NRL role

Former Wigan Warriors head coach Michael Maguire is reportedly the leading candidate to be appointed as head coach of the Brisbane Broncos.

Despite going all the way to the Grand Final in 2023, Brisbane had a torrid season this year and that’s led to wholesale changes with head coach Kevin Walters sacked last week.

Walters’ axing was a surprise one and also one that means there will be an entirely new coaching staff in place for the Broncos in 2025 given that assistants John Cartwright and Lee Briers are headed to Super League.

Cartwright has been appointed as head coach at Hull FC where he will aim to turn fortunes around whereas Briers has returned to his hometown club of St Helens, tasked with making the Red Vee’s attack start firing once again.

As for Brisbane, the search for a replacement is one and whilst current Leeds Rhinos boss Brad Arthur’s name has been floated about, it seems that the standout option is former Wigan Warriors coach Michael Maguire.

Former Wigan Warriors coach in line for huge NRL gig

Maguire is currently the head coach of New South Wales, whom he led to a victorious State of Origin series earlier in the year. Per The Daily Telegraph, Maguire has met with the Broncos’ Board of Directors about the prospect of takin gon the job.

The Telegraph have labelled Maguire as the ‘preferred candidate’ and even suggested that a deal could be done within a week. Maguire coached Wigan Warriors in 2010 and 2011 before being poached by South Sydney Rabbitohs after landing the Grand Final and the Challenge Cup in his two seasons in England.

Now, leading journalist down under, Pete Badel, has told SEN radio that Maguire is the ‘firm plan B’.

He said: “I believe the wheels have been in motion. I believe they’ve got a firm Plan B. From the information I’ve got, that Plan B is Michael Maguire.

“He hasn’t got the job, I know he’s had some preliminary negotiations with the Broncos, there’s no deal done at this stage.

“I know they want to move swiftly, they want a new coach for the upcoming preseason in November, so I think you might find a deal might be done with their new coach in the next week or two.”

Controversy over the proposed appointment has arisen from the fact that he is now a Queenslander, something that Badel has rubbished as he argued that success is all that matters.