Josh McGuire

Josh McGuire (born 2 March 1990) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who currently plays for the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugby League. A Samoan and Australian international, Queensland State of Origin and Prime Minister's XIII representative, he plays at prop and lock.

Background

Born in Brisbane, Queensland, McGuire moved to Lismore, New South Wales with his family when he was two. He moved back to Brisbane at age 12 and began playing junior football for the Aspley Devils at age 14.^[2] In 2007, McGuire played for Queensland Under 17's and Under 19's. In 2008, he played for Queensland Under 18's. McGuire played for the Brisbane Broncos Under 20's side from 2008-2010, playing 29 games and scoring 11 tries. McGuire is eligible for Australia through his father who is Australian and Samoa and New Zealand through his mother who was born in Auckland, New Zealand and is predominately-New Zealander with part-Samoan descent through her grandfather.^[3][2]

Before playing rugby league, McGuire was a junior ice hockey player, having been scouted by Ralph Barahona to potentially trial for the Vancouver Canucks.^[4]

Playing career

2009

In Round 3 , McGuire made his NRL debut for the Broncos against the New Zealand Warriors, playing off the interchange bench in the Broncos 26-10 win at Mt Smart Stadium.^[5] In Round 22 against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, McGuire scored his first NRL try in the Broncos 30-10 win at Suncorp Stadium.^[6] McGuire finished his debut year in the NRL with him playing in 14 matches and scoring 2 tries.

2010

In the 2010, McGuire played in 14 matches for the Broncos. He debuted for Samoa against New Zealand on October 16.^[7]

2011

In Round 8 against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, McGuire suffered a serious eye injury after he was accidentally poked by team mate Mitchell Dodds and has to attend hospital with significant bleeding.^[8] McGuire later returned for the Broncos in Round 17 against the Parramatta Eels. McGuire finished the year with 18 appearances. He was selected in the Australian Kangaroos train-on squad but was later omitted due to eligibility issues from playing for Samoa.^[9] On 26 October, McGuire re-signed with Broncos for three further seasons.^[10]

2012

In round 2 against the North Queensland Cowboys, McGuire scored his first try for the Broncos since round 23 of 2009.^[11] He was selected as 18th man for Queensland in Game 2 of the 2012 State of Origin series.^[12] McGuire finished the season with him being awarded as the Broncos Player of the Year, playing in 24 matches and scoring 1 try.^[13] On 23 September, McGuire played for the Prime Minister’s XIII against Papua New Guinea, playing off the interchange bench in the 24-18 win at Port Moresby.^[14][15]

2013

McGuire scored 1 try from 19 matches in 2013.

2014

In Round 12 against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, McGuire played his 100th NRL career match in the Broncos 36-10 win at Suncorp Stadium.^[16][17] He was again selected as 18th man for Queensland in Game 3 of the 2014 State of Origin series.^[18] McGuire finished the regular season with him playing in 24 matches and scoring 2 tries. On 7 October, McGuire was selected in the Samoan 24-man squad for the Four Nations series while he was in the Prime Minister’s XIII squad. After fulfilling his obligations with the PM's XIII,^[19][20] McGuire would go on to play in all 3 matches of the tournament, starting at hooker in two of the test matches.^[21] On 18 October, McGuire revealed that he was playing blind in his left eye after suffering a detached retina from the eye-poke that saw him sidelined in 2011.^[22]

2015

On 23 January, McGuire re-signed with the Broncos to the end of the 2017 season. On 2 May, McGuire played for Samoa against Tonga in the 2015 Polynesian Cup.^[23][24] On 27 May, in Game 1 of the 2015 State of Origin series, McGuire made his long awaited State of Origin debut for Queensland, playing off the interchange bench in the 11-10 win at ANZ Stadium. McGuire also played in Game 2 of the series^[25][26] before his season-ending Achilles tendon injury he suffered in Round 16 against the Newcastle Knights. McGuire was unfortunately sidelined for the rest of the season, where he watched his team made it up to the grand final. McGuire managed 2 tries from 13 matches for the season.

2016

In the Round 1 season opening match against the Parramatta Eels, McGuire made his return to the Broncos team from injury in the 17-4 win at Parramatta Stadium.^[27] On 6 May 2016, McGuire made his international debut for Australia against New Zealand in the 2016 Anzac Test, playing off the interchange bench in the 16-0 win at Hunter Stadium.^[28][29] In the 2016 State of Origin series, McGuire played in all 3 matches for Queensland, including starting at prop in Game 2, where the Maroons won 26-16 at Suncorp Stadium. After the series winning match, McGuire wrote a Tweet about the victory, mocking New South Wales saying “Losers have meetings, Winners have parties”.^[30][31] On 13 September 2016, In the lead-up to the Broncos do-or-die Semi-Finals match against last year premiers the North Queensland Cowboys, McGuire and Broncos contracted Wynnum-Manly Seagulls Queensland Cup player Salesi Funaki were involved in a scuffle at training after Funaki reacted to McGuire’s overzealous tackle on him before he started to throw a few punches towards McGuire but was quickly broken up and stopped by other players.^[32] In the actual match against the Cowboys, McGuire played his 150th NRL career match in the Broncos season ending 26-20 golden point extra time loss at 1300SMILES Stadium.^[33][34] McGuire finished the 2016 NRL season with him playing in 24 matches for the Broncos. On 20 September 2016, McGuire was added to the Australia Kangaroos 2016 Four Nations train-on squad but later make the final 24-man squad.^[35]

References

External links

• 2016 Broncos Broncos profile