According to Code Sports, Dolphins star Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow was among “a posse of Dolphins drinking with Shibasaki”.
Several Dolphins players went out to celebrate their 36-30 win over the Titans on Sunday, with Shibasaki – who was at the same Queensland pub with a relative at the time – later joining them.
The 27-year-old then reportedly turned up to training ‘worse for wear’ on Monday and was subsequently axed by Maguire for Thursday night’s clash against the Storm, a game of massive finals implications, with a win seeing them lock up a top four spot.
There is no suggestion that any other player drank as heavily as Shibasaki.
But the main bugbear of Shibasaki’s teammates isn’t around his decision to hang out with players from a rival club, but the fact that he broke a pact made by the Broncos playing group.
In the lead-up to the finals, the Brisbane squad made a pact to go alcohol-free in the run to the finals in a bid to break the club’s 19-year premiership drought.
And explaining the decision to drop Shibasaki on Wednesday, Maguire says every action has a consequence.
“It’s obviously disappointing. He’s made a mistake, and he understands that, and you pay a price, I suppose,” Maguire said.
“I don’t think it’s a big call to be honest. It’s the expectation of what is going on, and culture is everything.
“You have to live by what you’re building and the expectations of each other.
“The focus for us is this game. We’ve worked really hard this season, learned plenty about each other and had plenty of hurdles, and this is no different.”
When asked if Shibasaki trained on Wednesday, Maguire responded: “He’s out there training. He got absolutely flogged.”
However, the repercussions for his actions may not end there.
Maguire may not immediately reinstate him for the first week of finals next week, with Deine Mariner given a massive chance to prove he is the right man to help end Brisbane’s premiership drought.
“I don’t know, I haven’t thought that far ahead,” Maguire said when asked if Shibasaki would return to the team next week.
“I will worry about this week’s game, see how Deine Mariner performs at centre, and then go from there.”
The Broncos will face the Storm at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night.
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