The Brisbane Broncos have dismissed concerns around Michael Maguire’s brutal start to pre-season training after the NRL reportedly made inquiries to see if the club were following strict new guidelines around player safety. Maguire has given his players a baptism of fire in the opening weeks of the new pre-season, putting them through their paces with some gruelling sessions in the oppressive Brisbane heat.
With the mercury hitting 30 degrees on same days, Maguire has had his players out training in the middle of the day and working hard to try and set some standards around fitness and work ethic. A number of players are said to have vomitted during sessions last week, but Maguire is keen to change the culture at the club that saw them fall to 12th on the NRL ladder in 2024.
Maguire is a known disciplinarian and always put his teams through gruelling pre-seasons in order to get them in the best shape physically. But it sparked inquiries from NRL officials to check if new rules were being followed.
The NRL sent a reminder to all clubs recently regarding player safety, outlining the new measures that have been introduced after the tragic death of Manly player Keith Titmuss in 2020. Titmuss collapsed and lost consciousness after a 139-minute training session at Sea Eagles headquarters in November of 2020, and a coroner later labelled the session “inappropriate” due to the temperature that day. The 20-year-old suffered cardiac arrest and died of exertional heat stroke.
In response to the coroner’s findings earlier this year, the NRL has introduced mandatory heat tests to be conducted before training sessions. Players must also be given regular breaks in the shade, while ice towels, fans and drinks must be made available.
Broncos boss responds after NRL makes inquiries
When the Broncos kicked off their pre-season training and some of the details were being reported in the media, NRL CEO Andrew Abdo reportedly got in contact with the club to check if the protocols were being followed. Broncos CEO Dave Donaghy told the Courier Mail: “All our staff are well aware of the new pre-season guidelines.
”In fact, our staff did extra training beyond the NRL requirements to ensure our players would be looked after in the pre-season given the climate in Brisbane. We’re also fortunate to have (former NRL elite performance manager) Troy Thomson on our staff. We test our players in the pre-season, but we also respect the rules and make their safety the utmost priority.”
Payne Haas admits Broncos had slipped with training standards
Broncos prop Payne Haas, who worked under Maguire during his stint as NSW coach in State of Origin this year, admitted the standards at training needed to be improved. “We needed to work harder,” he admitted over the weekend.
“I was watching some of the other boys in the NSW team. The way they did things… I felt like we could be doing things better at the Broncos. Being in those rep camps, you learn from the best. You take away certain things and you talk about what these guys in other teams are doing and I feel we can implement it at the Broncos.”
