Reece Walsh and Patrick Carrigan could be forced to move as Brisbane Broncos overhaul begins
The new Brisbane Broncos coach is keen to bring some new standards and a change of culture to the club.
Brisbane Broncos hierarchy have reportedly grown concerned about the likes of Reece Walsh and Patrick Carrigan living 90 minutes away from club headquarters on the Gold Coast, with questions emerging about whether it has affected standards and culture at the club. New coach Michael Maguire has already begun work on instilling a new culture at the NRL club, and there's now a chain of thought that he could dictate where the players live.
Walsh and Carrigan are among a number of Broncos players who actually live on the Gold Coast rather than in Brisbane, with Walsh recently purchasing a property in the Gold Coast hinterland. It means those players travel 160km to training and back, which takes about 90 minutes each way.
According to the Courier Mail, Broncos officials have held discussions about whether players should be forced to live closer to Brisbane, amid fears the travel is taking too much of a toll. The Broncos are coming off their biggest slide in club history after they finished 12th in 2024, just 12 months after making the grand final in 2023.
According to the report, some players have asked to leave training early in the past in a bid to beat peak-hour traffic while travelling back to the Gold Coast. Payne Haas used to live on the Gold Coast, but moved closer to Red Hill recently due to the travel.
“It was a nightmare,” the Courier Mail quoted a Broncos staffer as saying previosly. “Players would want to finish weights sessions early to beat the peak-hour traffic to the Gold Coast. I never liked the idea of Broncos players living on the Gold Coast.”
Michael Maguire keen for players to live closer to Brisbane
Maguire reportedly won't be bringing in a mandate that players must live closer to Brisbane, but it's said his preference is for them not to be living as far away as the Gold Coast. In the past, Broncos staff reportedly had to adjusted training schedules to allow for players to get to and from the Gold Coast, but that won't be happening under the hard-nosed Maguire.
The new coach is keen to bring in a culture of hard work and dedication, and he certainly won't be letting players get away with things like leaving training early to beat traffic. However Broncos legend Corey Parker can't see an issue after living on the Gold Coast for the majority of his career at Brisbane.
“My personal view is live wherever you want, who cares?” Parker said. “Why would it matter? If it’s impacting the team and their performance, then you might have to look at it.
“Some people might want to live on the Gold Coast and I don’t mind that. (Former captain) Alex Glenn lived on the Goldy for a long time and he was a great professional. You have to make sure you are performing and doing your job as a professional. I don’t see why it should be an issue for the Broncos.”
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Panthers show the value of living in or near Penrith
Amid news that Clint Gutherson has officially signed with St George Illawarra, former Dragons player Joel Caine said on Thursday he'd like to see the former Parramatta captain relocate to Wollongong to properly connect with the club and community. Former Dragons captain Ben Hunt never lived in Wollongong, and it's said he was hardly down there unless playing or training.
After conducting a review of the Dragons and their culture in 2019, NRL supremo Phil Gould said it was a big issue that players lived in Sydney and had to travel to Wollongong for training. The majority of the Panthers playing group - including superstar halfback Nathan Cleary and coach Ivan - live in the Penrith area, and it's done wonders for the culture and community there, with four-straight premierships the proof in the pudding.
“The way players support each other and the way they have that connectivity with each other ... that’s what I’ve seen from all successful teams,” Maguire said recently. “You look at Penrith right now and you can see the connection in their group. The well-connected teams want to be together and work together and that’s the standards I want to drive here."
