The training he was put through after his lapse in judgment proved to be every bit as draining as the pre-season, with Maguire telling media after the incident that Shibasaki got “flogged”.
“It was pretty bad, I deserved it. It was just like another pre-season training, and I had to focus on that time and that moment, and that was to get through training and get fit and ready, whatever decision the boys made,” Shibasaki said.
“Madge was really good, he just made sure I was OK and made sure my wellbeing was OK. It’s not everything about footy, but he was worried about my mental health, and was really good about it.
“My main focus, he told me, was to focus on training, and what I could do was to control what I could control, and that’s what I do on the paddock.”
Shibasaki was ultimately ushered back into the fold for Sunday’s breathtaking 94-minute epic against the Canberra Raiders, with Ben Hunt’s golden point field goal clinching a 29-28 triumph and a preliminary final berth.
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If the Townsville product needed to do something special to regain his teammates’ trust, he did just that in the nation’s capital – scoring a try and running for 228 metres, with eight tackle busts from 27 carries, while also coming up with a try-saving tackle on Zac Hosking to force an error.
Broncos interim captain Pat Carrigan, who convinced Shibasaki to return to Brisbane and will miss next Sunday’s penultimate showdown, said he never doubted his close mate would redeem himself – despite being one of the leaders who confirmed his one-game demotion.
“He’s human, he just owned it,” Carrigan said.
“I’ve made mistakes in the past too. His work ethic’s been unreal this year, and what he’s produced on the field, even in Origin, speaks for itself.”
Shibasaki’s centre partner, Kotoni Staggs, added: “Gem will learn from that, you live and learn. He’s not the first, and he won’t be the last to do something like that.
“He knows what he did was wrong.”
While Shibasaki appears to have done enough to retain his place, the looming comeback of Selwyn Cobbo from a hamstring injury has reignited the Broncos’ backline battle.
Cobbo has been named on Wynnum Manly’s extended bench for their Queensland Cup preliminary, as has Jesse Arthars for the Burleigh Bears.
