Brisbane will roll the dice with star pivot Anthony Milford, hoping he can get through the NRL season before going for shoulder surgery.
Milford dislocated his left shoulder in the round 14 victory over South Sydney.
The Broncos initially thought six weeks on the sidelines and no surgery would be the forecast for Milford but coach Wayne Bennett told The Courier Mail that the club are now certain he needs surgery.
It's just a matter of when - and for the Broncos - that's hopefully after the 2017 NRL grand final.
"Anthony definitely needs surgery," Bennett said.
"He is basically a 50-50 chance of getting through, that is the advice we have got from the specialist.
"He will have some surgery at some stage, hopefully at the end of the year.
"We have got nothing to lose, so we may as well give it a go and see how Anthony handles it.
"He's such an important part of what we do, so it's worth a shot."
Bennett remains hopeful that Milford's shoulder will stand up to the rigours of first grade football after an appropriate break and knows there is precedent for playing through this injury.
"The medical staff are quite amazing these days, so we're hoping we can get Anthony right," Bennett said.
"Guys have played with this injury before and got through the season so we'll rehab him, strap him up and hope for the best.
"I remember when I was at the Dragons, in the year we won the premiership in 2010, Neville Costigan got the same injury and we managed to get him through the season."
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