Former Broncos assistant coach Ben Te’o may not be out of a job for long following his messy departure from Red Hill, with Queensland rivals the Gold Coast Titans and the Queensland Maroons interested in his services.
Te’o sensationally quit the club on Tuesday after an explosive verbal bust-up with Michael Maguire over team tactics before the Broncos’ 18-14 win over the Storm.
Tensions reportedly boiled over after Te’o and Maguire argued over defensive tactics following the club leaking 40 points to the Eels the week prior.
In the aftermath, it was revealed that Gold Coast coach Josh Hannay was an admirer of Te’o’s defensive prowess and identified him as the perfect assistant to transform the Titans’ notoriously leaky defence.
Te’o is largely credited with putting in place the defensive structures that helped the Broncos snap a 19-year title drought last season.
And according to Code Sports, the Broncos assistant had several meetings with Hannay after he had just been appointed head coach of the Titans.
The outlet reports Te’o was initially wooed by Hannay’s pitch to join him at the Gold Coast, and verbally indicated he was ready to take the leap of faith by quitting the Broncos.
However, after last year’s premiership at Red Hill, the 39-year-old ultimately decided against leaving, and informed Hannay of his decision to stay put.
Six months on and Te’o’s tenure at the Broncos is over, and the Titans could come knocking again.
According to journalist Pete Badel, Te’o has strong defensive philosophies, and the tension with Maguire has been bubbling for some time after the Broncos coach opted to take more control of the club’s defensive structure.
“I’ve had some information about Te’o and Maguire for some time and it’s multifaceted,” Badel said on NRL360 on Tuesday night.
“One of the things I’m told is that Te’o is highly principled and he’s very driven in terms of the defensive principles he’s set for this Broncos team.
“He’s been the defensive coach. I’m told that they didn’t always see eye-to-eye over some of the defensive patterns, some of the defensive methodologies, and the way they wanted to run things.
“Now, that’s natural. You’re going to have coaches at all clubs that don’t always see eye-to-eye, aren’t always on the same page. And it is the head coach’s prerogative image in some times to call the shots as they see fit. That’s why they’re the head coach.”
It was also revealed that after Hannay had to stand down as Maroons assistant after being appointed the Titans coach, he put forward Te’o — who pulled on the Maroons jersey seven times as a player — as his replacement.
But Badel says the Broncos and chief executive Dave Donaghy shut down that move.
“I’m told that Billy Slater approached Te’o about the job. Te’o went to Maguire and the Broncos and they vetoed the move,” Badel continued.
“That would be enormously disappointing for Te’o and it was not only a decision by Maguire, it was formalised by Donaghy.
“They had already lost Matt Ballin as an assistant with the Maroons. They didn’t want to lose a second guy, so whether that was also a factor, I believe it was, but it’s multifaceted.
“But at the end of the day it seems like Te’o didn’t have his heart totally in the job, and he wants to change.”
Explaining the decision to deny his request, Donaghy said on Triple M’s The Rush Hour with Dobbo & Elliott on Wednesday that they couldn’t weaken their program.
“The thing you need to understand is the NRL is the toughest game in the world. It’s 24 games and 24/7. We want our staff to experience Origin, but we can’t have too many of them… we contribute Matt Ballin, [strength coach] Patty Kenny… that’s a significant contribution,” he said.
“How far do you go? We’ve got to prioritise our program and requirements of our staff through the Origin period.
“It’s a challenge, and there’s always different opportunities that arise for different staff, but we weren’t able to approve that for Ben in this instance. You can’t weaken your program.”
After walking away from Brisbane, Te’o is now a free agent and is free to link up with Slater for Queensland’s Origin campaign this season.
While the Titans appointed Brian McDermott as Hannay’s assistant coach after Te’o turned down the move, the club could look to bring him in as part of the wider coaching staff.
