A stumped Wayne Bennett admits he has no idea who will be Brisbane’s new hooker amid fears number nine Andrew McCullough faces up to two months on the sidelines with an elbow injury.
McCullough suffered suspected elbow ligament damage when he collided with teammate Joe Ofahengaue in a second-half tackle before Melbourne held on for a 34-20 NRL win over the Broncos on Friday night.
It was another blow to a Broncos pack reeling from the injury to Test back-rower Matt Gillett that may sideline him for three months.
It could get worse still after prop Matt Lodge was placed on report for a 75th-minute dangerous throw.
But Bennett’s main priority was trying to find a replacement hooker.
McCullough’s understudy Jake Turpin is also out of action with a broken ankle.
Bennett said Kodi Nikorima could be given the No.9 jersey next week.
“Maybe we can do that but I just need to think about it all and see what our best options are,” he said.
“I really don’t know what we do.”
Bennett may be losing forwards but not his sense of humour.
He couldn’t resist a sly dig at Sam Thaiday’s maligned first-round effort as Brisbane dummy half when asked to name rake contenders.
“We will just have to have a look around this week. I don’t think Sam will be going back,” Bennett smiled.
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