Madge hands Broncos three day weekend in bid to restart '26 title defence

Brisbane Broncos hooker Cory Paix has admitted the premiers have been playing “dumb” football as coach Michael Maguire handed his players a three-day weekend in a bid to reset their faltering start to the season.

Brisbane slumped to their second straight defeat with a 40-32 loss to the Parramatta Eels at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night, leaving the defending champions searching for answers early in their premiership defence.

Read more about the match HERE.

Rather than delivering a fiery dressing-room spray, Maguire gathered his players in a circle after the match and delivered a short message focused on improving their game management.

“Madge kept it pretty short,” Paix told the Courier Mail.

“He sat us down in a circle and we spoke among ourselves about what we need to do to fix it.

“He said, ‘Just be smarter, be a smarter footballer and play the long game’.

“We’re not prepared to play the long game at the moment.”

Paix conceded Brisbane’s performance against Parramatta fell well below the standards expected of the club.

“We played dumb really,” he said.

“We weren’t resilient enough once it got a bit tough for us. There were a few soft tries that weren’t good enough.

“To concede 40 points isn’t good enough. That’s the disappointing part.”

In response to the loss, Maguire has given the squad an extended three-day weekend to clear their heads before returning to training on Monday ahead of a blockbuster clash with the Melbourne Storm in Melbourne.

Despite the rocky start, Paix dismissed suggestions the Broncos have lost their hunger after last year’s premiership success.

“For me personally, yes I’m hungry,” he said.

“We have the team here, but we have to be right mentally.

“We need to be hungrier. Teams are prepared to take us to the deep end but we’re not prepared to do it back to them.

“We’re 0-2 at the moment. No one can be complacent.”

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