Josh McGuire


Joshua McGuire is a rugby league footballer who plays as a and for the North Queensland Cowboys in the NRL. He has played for Samoa and Australia at international level.
He previously played for the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugby League, and for the Prime Minister's XIII and Queensland in the State of Origin series.

Background

McGuire was born in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and 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. 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.
In addition to Australia, McGuire is eligible for Samoa, through his maternal grandfather. He was also eligible for New Zealand through his mother, who is from Auckland
Before playing rugby league, McGuire was a junior ice hockey player, having been scouted by Ralph Barahona to potentially trial for the Vancouver Canucks.

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. In Round 22 against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, McGuire scored his first NRL try in the Broncos 30–10 win at Suncorp Stadium. 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 16 October.

2011

In Round 8 against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, McGuire suffered a serious eye injury after he was accidentally poked by teammate Mitchell Dodds, and has to attend hospital with significant bleeding. 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. On 26 October, McGuire re-signed with Broncos for three further seasons.

2012

In round 2 against the North Queensland Cowboys, McGuire scored his first try for the Broncos since round 23 of 2009. He was selected as 18th man for Queensland in Game 2 of the 2012 State of Origin series. McGuire finished the season with him being awarded as the Broncos Player of the Year, playing in 24 matches and scoring 1 try. 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.

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. He was again selected as 18th man for Queensland in Game 3 of the 2014 State of Origin series. 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, McGuire would go on to play in all 3 matches of the tournament, starting at hooker in two of the test matches. 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.

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. 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 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 season opening match against the Parramatta Eels, McGuire made his return to the Broncos team from injury in the 17–4 win. On 6 May, 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. 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". On 13 September, in the lead-up to the Broncos do-or-die semi-final match against 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 by other players. In the match against the Cowboys, McGuire played his 150th NRL game in the season-ending 26-20 golden point extra time loss. McGuire finished the season with 24 matches for the Broncos. McGuire was added to the Australia Kangaroos Four Nations train-on squad but didn't make the final squad.

2017

On 9 March 2017, McGuire extended his contract with the Broncos until the end of the 2021 season. On 6 May 2017, McGuire played for Samoa in the test against England, starting at lock in the 30–10 loss at Campbelltown Stadium. For the 2017 State of Origin series, McGuire played in all 3 matches, starting at lock, replacing the retired Corey Parker, and had a very good series helping Queensland win the series and was controversially not picked for the man of the match award in Game 2 ahead of NSW's Josh Jackson in a 18-16 victorious side. On 16 June 2017, McGuire was selected in the Inaugural Australian Merit Team at lock after his outstanding performances in the State of Origin series. McGuire finished the 2017 NRL season with him playing in 25 matches and scoring 3 tries for the Broncos. On 3 October 2017, McGuire was selected in the 24-man Australia Kangaroos 2017 Rugby League World Cup squad. McGuire played in 5 matches of the tournament, including starting at lock the World Cup Final match against England in the hard-fought 6–0 victory at Suncorp Stadium.

2018

McGuire played 19 games for the Broncos in 2018, starting 17 games at lock and two at hooker. He started three games at lock for Queensland in their series loss to New South Wales and in October, started two games at lock for Australia.
On 19 November, McGuire was granted a release from the final three-years of his Broncos' contract to join the North Queensland Cowboys on a four-year deal.

2019

In Round 1 of the 2019 NRL season, McGuire made his debut for the Cowboys in their 24–12 win over the St George Illawarra Dragons. In Round 6, he played his 200th NRL game in the Cowboys' 17–10 win over the Warriors.
Despite great form for his new club, McGuire's 2019 was plagued by on-field incidents. In Round 5, he avoided suspension for an alleged eye gouge on Queensland and Australian teammate Cameron Munster. Munster refused to make a complaint to referees after the incident. McGuire was charged with grade one contrary conduct and fined $3550.
Following a Round 13 loss to the Manly Sea Eagles, he was charged again after putting his hands in the face of Dylan Walker. He again escaped suspension with a $4500 fine. He would be suspended for one-week after a late hit on James Maloney while playing for Queensland during the 2019 State of Origin series. In the Cowboys' Round 21 loss to the Brisbane Broncos, McGuire was charged again for putting his hands in the face of an opponent, this time Brisbane's David Fifita, and was suspended for three weeks.
He returned for the Cowboys' final game of the season, a loss to the Melbourne Storm, and was charged for a trip on Cameron Smith. He took the early guilty and accepted a one-game suspension.

2020

In February, McGuire was a member of the Cowboys' 2020 NRL Nines winning squad. He played in the side's first three games before injuring his knee in a win over the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

Achievements and accolades

Individual

NRL

State of Origin

International