The game’s best prop Payne Haas is suffering from an infection and is a late scratching for Brisbane’s must-win Round 22 match up against Wayne Bennett and the Rabbitohs.
Making things even worse, second rower Brendan Piakura has also been ruled out following a training mishap.
While Haas’ absence is a huge blow for the Broncos, one potential silver lining for Michael Maguire’s squad is it avoids the situation of having both Haas and fellow forward behemoth Xavier Willison on the field at the same time—a tactic several NRL insiders continue to cast doubts over, suggesting Willison is far better utilised as cover for Haas, rather than a running mate.
In the midst of career-best form, Willison, who turns 23 on Saturday, has plenty of fans, none more so than retired Broncos legend Petero Civoniceva who explained earlier in the season it’s time for the young prop to step up and keep stepping up.
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“It is important for Xavier to stamp his authority,” Civoniceva told The Queenslander.
“There is a time to be in the shadows of the big two (Haas and Carrigan) up front, but now is the time to step out of those shadows.”
Willison seems set for a significantly increased workload against South Sydney and will look to repeat his barnstorming performance from Round 18 when the Broncos shocked the high-flying Bulldogs with both Haas and Patrick Carrigan away on State of Origin duty.
Having successfully returned from a blood clot in Round 21, bench forward Corey Jensen looms as the logical replacement in the starting 13 for Haas, while reserve forward Tyson Smoothy could also be elevated into the squad for Piakura.
No sympathy from Wayne Bennett
Of course, the Broncos can expect little in the way of sympathy from their former boss, Wayne Bennett, who returns to Suncorp Stadium with a battered and bruised squad missing 12 regular first graders and forced into blooding a new skipper, Jai Arrow, who began his NRL career with Brisbane back in 2016.