Michael Maguire admits he is still learning about the enormity of coaching Brisbane and conceded he had pause for self-reflection after the loss to Canberra.

Maguire made a cryptic remark after the 32-22 loss to the Raiders, when he suggested he had to take some blame for the loss.

"I will wear a bit around this performance, just around understanding the playing group and getting to know them at a higher level,'' Maguire said last Saturday night.

"I will take responsibility."

The coach, speaking on Thursday ahead of Friday night's blockbuster derby with North Queensland, elaborated on what he meant by his earlier comments.

"I am learning (about) the organisation, the (outside) noise and how we roll from week to week … and getting an understanding of how you best prep ... and the mental state of the organisation. I learned a lot. That is what I was alluding to," he said.

"I think last week was a really good one for me to realise that there are a few things that I could look at myself to make sure we are set and ready to go."

Maguire coached foundation club South Sydney to the 2014 title, led NSW to a State of Origin series win last year and mentored New Zealand to the Pacific Championships title after a record win over Australia. He is not stranger to big tasks but the Broncos job is like no other.

"The enormity of the club," he said.

"It gets going doesn't it? We were leaving down there in Canberra and it was actually exciting to see how many fans were at the hotel when we were walking out. I thought, 'wow'.

"It is nice the passion you get to feel around here. You see it at training every day but you have to make sure you get things right with your prep to be able to perform.

"When you are playing a derby, there is always a little bit extra. It's all close to the hearts of everyone here, so we want to make sure we get out and perform."

The coach has also backed his star fullback Reece Walsh to rebound from one of his worst games in the NRL - he made four errors and missed four tackles against the Raiders.

"Reece will be right. I have spent a fair bit of time with Reecey," he said.

"It is just about getting back out there and performing the way he knows he can and we know he can. It only takes one performance."Maguire had named strike centre Kotoni Staggs (hip flexor) on an extended bench after he had missed the opening two rounds.

Staggs trained well on Thursday but Maguire said he would not risk him, although he will remain as No.19 on the team sheet.

He will return against the Dolphins next week and that will mean one of Gehamat Shibasaki or Deine Mariner will miss out.

Mariner was on the cusp of being omitted before Staggs was injured, but he could yet stay with another strong individual effort like he displayed against the Raiders.

"It really creates that competition to make sure you perform and Deino has been great," Maguire said.

"I challenged him through the pre-season and the way he dived into the pre-season, like all of them he worked hard."