Josh McGuire made an early-season move from the North Queensland Cowboys to the St.George Illawarra Dragons after an ongoing conflict between himself and Cowboys head coach Todd Payten.

Before his time at the Cowboys McGuire played 194 games for the Brisbane Broncos between 2009 and 2018, cementing himself as a State of Origin and International representative player during this period.

The Daily Telegraph recently reported that Brisbane’s head coach Kevin Walters is interested in bringing McGuire back to the club as they look to add some experience to a youthful forward pack.

However, a report from the Courier Mail has since emerged stating that the Broncos have refuted this claim that they are looking to re-sign their ex-enforcer.

While McGuire’s resume is a beefy one, with the 31-year-old having played 242 NRL games for the Broncos, Cowboys and Dragons, 14 games for Queensland in State of Origin and 15 games at International level for Samoa and Australia, it’s safe to say his form has taken a downturn, as McGuire has not made fewer tackles in a single season of his career since 2015.

Cleanskin cultural revolution: Brisbane Broncos slam door on a comeback in its bid to return to greatness. @badel_cmailhttps://t.co/PKK0WuThmr pic.twitter.com/jkct5GBP9G

— Courier Mail Sport (@cmail_sport) August 14, 2021

He is averaging fewer running metres per game than he has in seven of the last eight seasons and has gained the least post-contact metres of his career, with the Brisbane native making 490 tackles, averaging 119.9 average running metres per game and notching up 636.4 post-contact metres so far in 2021.

McGuire will be off-contract and 32-years-old at the end of next season, so the Broncos may come in with a bid for his signature then, although he would have to be playing in a primarily reduced role off of the bench or possibly in the Intrust Super Cup, with his main role being to help develop the plethora of young forward that the Broncos have to come through the ranks.

Still, it’s unlikely that many suitors will be gunning for his services once his contract with the Dragons is up.

The Red V have a tough run home to finish the season, with games against the Roosters, Cowboys and Rabbitohs providing “Moose” with an opportunity to regain some of his form and build a foundation towards having a great 2022.