Brisbane’s depth will be further tested over the State of Origin period after it was confirmed hooker Andrew McCullough will be sidelined for up to six weeks with a broken thumb.
McCullough suffered the injury in the Broncos’ shock 19-18 NRL loss to Wests Tigers at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.
A Brisbane spokesman said McCullough may require surgery next week and would be sidelined for at least a month.
McCullough had only just returned from a serious hamstring injury.
It is another blow to Brisbane who were already expected to do it tough over the representative period.
The Broncos will have six players running out for Queensland in Wednesday night’s Origin series opener in Sydney.