Michael Maguire has angrily rejected suggestions he is losing Brisbane’s dressing room as the fallout surrounding Adam Reynolds’ abrupt retirement continues to grow.
The Broncos coach faced questions about his relationship with the playing group after Reynolds missed out on a final appearance at Suncorp Stadium and Reece Walsh publicly reacted to the controversy.
Asked whether he was concerned that Brisbane’s players were turning against him, Maguire delivered a blunt response.
“You ask them,” Maguire said.
“I love coaching this team and they know that. We’re moving through a time where there’s high emotion around the scenarios we’re talking about.
“But I know this group is going to rise again.”
Maguire Insists Reynolds Made Final Decision
Confusion emerged after Reynolds initially said conversations with Maguire and Brisbane’s medical staff had ended his hopes of facing Melbourne in the club’s final home game.
The retiring captain later clarified that it was ultimately his decision to finish immediately after accepting his body could no longer handle another appearance.
Maguire strongly rejected any suggestion that he forced Reynolds into retirement or personally denied him a farewell match.
“He basically said to me, ‘I think it’s time, Madge’, and that’s how it went, and I respect that,” Maguire said, according to the AAP report.
“I’d love to see him play.
“To be honest, I was pushing him to try and get him there.
“But there comes a time where he just said the body’s had its time and he just couldn’t get to the end point to have that last little fairytale.”
That account presents a different picture from the original suggestion that Reynolds wanted to play but had been overruled by the coach.
The reality appears more complicated.
Reynolds wanted the opportunity to farewell Brisbane supporters and attempted to prove his fitness at training. However, the combination of nerve trouble in his left calf, a grade-one strain in his right calf and limited recent preparation ultimately made another appearance unrealistic.
The Broncos’ official statement confirmed Reynolds would miss the club’s final two games because of ongoing concerns involving both calves.
Walsh’s Social Media Like Adds to Drama
The controversy intensified when Walsh liked an Instagram post describing Brisbane’s handling of Reynolds’ retirement as “embarrassing and sad”.
The Broncos fullback subsequently removed the like and discussed the matter with Maguire.
“Reece and I have had that conversation,” the coach said.
“He realises that social media moves very quickly. They’re different circumstances but the same sort of incident.
“I’m not going to go into what’s happened. We move forward now.”
Walsh’s action was compared with the earlier controversy involving Martin Taupau, who did not play for Brisbane again after liking a social media post critical of Maguire.
Maguire insisted the two incidents involved “different circumstances”, although the comparison inevitably created questions about how Brisbane would handle Walsh.
There has been no confirmed suggestion that Walsh will face the same outcome as Taupau.
A single social-media like also cannot establish that Walsh has withdrawn his support for the coach. However, its timing created an embarrassing public perception during an already emotional week.
Hunt Admits Players Were Shocked
Ben Hunt added to the scrutiny when he revealed that Brisbane’s players were surprised Reynolds would not receive a final appearance.
“We’re all pretty shocked, to be fair,” Hunt said.
“He deserved that send-off.”
Those comments did not necessarily amount to criticism of Maguire. Hunt was expressing disappointment that an admired teammate would not receive an on-field farewell rather than directly accusing the coach of making the wrong decision.
However, when combined with Walsh’s Instagram activity and Reynolds’ initially unclear explanation, they fuelled the suggestion that not everyone inside the club understood how the final decision had been reached.
That is the real problem for Brisbane.
Even if Reynolds made the call himself, the messaging surrounding his retirement allowed the situation to look like a coach denying a champion player the farewell he wanted.
Emotional Ending to a 14-Year Partnership
Maguire’s relationship with Reynolds extends considerably further than their time together in Brisbane.
He handed Reynolds his NRL debut at South Sydney in 2012 and coached the halfback during the Rabbitohs’ drought-breaking 2014 premiership campaign.
The pair reunited at Brisbane before winning another premiership together in 2025.
“For myself personally, it’s been an emotional week because I’ve had Reyno in my life for the last 14 years,” Maguire said.
“He’ll now transition into the next part of his life and I’ll always be a part of that. He’s a great human.”
Reynolds will remain at the Broncos in a development and mentoring role, making claims of a serious personal rift between the pair difficult to sustain.
The 36-year-old retires after 323 NRL appearances, two premierships and more than 2,500 career points.
Broncos Created Their Own Unnecessary Crisis
Brisbane may not have denied Reynolds his farewell, but the club failed to control the story.
Reynolds’ original comments suggested the decision had been taken out of his hands. His later clarification, Walsh’s Instagram activity and Hunt’s admission that players were shocked then created several competing versions of the same event.
Maguire’s explanation should end the argument over who made the final call.
Reynolds accepted that his body was finished, while the coach claims he was actually encouraging the veteran to keep trying.
Yet the episode has still exposed a communication problem inside a club that has fallen from reigning premier to the bottom four.
Maguire says he has not lost the players.
Brisbane’s response over the closing rounds and into the 2027 preseason will provide the more convincing answer.
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