NRL

Michael Maguire can say what he likes about the effort of his players and their pride in the maroon and gold jersey.

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But there’s no sugarcoating things at Red Hill in 2026.

The NRL’s biggest club, Brisbane, is officially on the verge of serving up the worst premiership defence in NRL history.

Should the 16th placed Broncos keep losing and the revitalised Dragons keep winning, there’s a real chance the premiers will plunge from first to last in the space of just 12 months.

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To put this into perspective, in more than 100 years of National Rugby League and NSW Rugby League first-grade only two teams have ever gone from reigning premiers straight to a wooden spoon the very next season — and both of those happened more than 70 years ago.

In the middle of World War II the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs won the 1942 NSWRL premiership before crashing to last place in season 1943.

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The Western Suburbs Magpies did the same a decade later, winning the comp in 1952 before finishing last in 1953.

More recently, South Sydney went from minor premiers in 1989 to wooden spooners in 1990, but they weren’t 1989 premiers after being defeated by the Raiders in the preliminary final of that season.

Despite a miserable 6-15 record in 2026, counting in Brisbane’s favour is a superior for and against to the 17th-placed Dragons and one more win should still be enough to stave off only the club’s second wooden spoon since entering the competition back in 1988.

However having tasted victory just once since Round 8 — an incredible stat in itself — three more losses to finish the year for the Broncos could see that change very quickly, especially with the Dragons coming home with a wet sail.

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History is beckoning, and for all the wrong reasons.