Josh McGuire

Josh McGuire was born in Brisbane, but spent his early years in Lismore, in northern New South Wales, before the family moved back to Queensland, when he was 12.

In Lismore, McGuire played roller hockey, and he continued with the sport in Brisbane, attracting the attention of Canadian ice hockey scouts.

But he also played junior league for Norths Aspley, and decided to concentrate on footy. His father, Adam, is a cousin of New South Wales' State of Origin legend, Brett Kenny, and played league in Sydney's western suburbs, and in Lismore. Adam made a number of overseas tours of duty with the Australian Army.

Josh McGuire was selected for the Queensland Under 17s and Queensland Under 19s in 2007, playing second row in the 17s and lock in the 19s.

He joined the Brisbane Broncos in 2008, playing under 20s, before making his NRL debut against the Warriors in Round 3, 2009.

McGuire, who earned the nickname 'Moose', quickly established himself as one of the Broncos' key forwards, and went on to make his international debut for Samoa in 2010, honouring his grandfather's heritage.

On May 27, 2015, McGuire made his long-awaited State of Origin debut for Queensland, playing off the bench in the Maroons' 11-10 win over the Blues in Sydney.

He missed the 2015 NRL grand final because of injury, but maintained his form for the Broncos in 2016, and was selected to make his Test debut for Australia against New Zealand.

You can be away from each other for months and months, but as soon as you get back together, it's like you were together yesterday.

Josh McGuire FOG #180 on Origin friendships

He went on to play eight Tests for his country, and was part of the 2017 World Cup winning squad. McGuire had played prop for much of his time at the Broncos, but slotted seamlessly into the lock forward position when Corey Parker retired at the end of the 2016 season.

Primarily an interchange player for Queensland in his first two campaigns, McGuire played lock in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

In 2019, he joined the North Queensland Cowboys, but mid-way through the 2021 season was released from his contract, and joined St George Illawarra.

At the start of the 2022 season, he had played 245 NRL matches, 194 for of those for Brisbane. He also had played 14 State of Origin matches.

His longevity at the top level is a tribute to his dedication, especially as he suffered a detached retina early in his career, and there were doubts over his playing future.