Representative prop Petero Civoniceva will make his home coming for the Brisbane Broncos off the bench in Friday night’s NRL showdown against the North Queensland Cowboys at Suncorp Stadium.

Civoniceva missed the Broncos’ first-round win over Parramatta last week after being suspended for a careless high tackle in a trial game against Melbourne in Hobart.

Coach Anthony Griffin said Civoniceva’s return off the bench was mainly due to his lack of game time in the trials and the outstanding form of last week’s man-of-the-match Ben Hannant against Parramatta.

Sam Thaiday has retained his place in the front row for what will be his 150th game for the Broncos.

Thaiday made his debut as captain against the Eels last Friday night when Brisbane opened the season with 18-6 win.

Townsville-born Thaiday predicted the Cowboys would hit back from their embarrassing 18-0 loss to the Titans at the weekend suggesting playmaker Johnathan Thurston and co-captain Matt Scott would lift for the Queensland derby clash.