The attention focused on Petero Civoniceva’s last Suncorp Stadium appearance on Friday night has overshadowed an impressive milestone by his young teammate Andrew McCullough.
The 22-year-old hooker from Dalby will become the fourth-youngest forward in the game’s history behind Canterbury forward Paul Langmack (22 years and 26 days) to play 100 NRL games when he steps out against Penrith.
It will be a special night for the Broncos, who will also induct Wally Lewis into its Hall of Fame.
At 22 years and 214 days, McCullough will claim a place in Brisbane’s history as the youngest forward to reach 100 games and the second youngest player after former Queensland and Australian fullback Karmichael Hunt (21 years and 293 days) to have achieved the milestone.
Getting to 100 games so quickly is a credit to McCullough after he and teammate Ben Hunt were disciplined by coach Anthony Griffin last year after a night out.
McCullough said being dumped by Griffin had been a real wake-up call and just what he needed to get him back on track.
“It was just what I needed at the time. I set myself some new goals, refocused and realised what I could have lost,” said McCullough.
Averaging just over 40 tackles a game, McCullough has improved several areas of his game and with time on his side is seen as a future replacement for Queensland Origin hooker Cameron Smith.
He has a big job on his hands on Friday night to get Brisbane’s forwards on a roll with the Broncos desperate to snap a six-game losing streak and give retiring forward Civoniceva a win in his farewell game at Suncorp Stadium.
Officials are anticipating a turnout of well over 40,000 with fans able to go onto the field at the end of the game.