Potential injuries to fullback Darius Boyd and forwards Alex Glenn and Tevita Pangai Jr have taken the shine off Brisbane's regular-season finale win over North Queensland.
Hamstring injuries ended the nights of both Boyd and Pangai Jr, with the Broncos facing a nervous wait leading in to the opening week of the finals after a costly 20-10 win.
There is far less concern for influential second-rower Glenn, who passed a head injury assessment and returned to the fray as Brisbane's stellar defence strangled any hopes of a Cowboys comeback in the second half.
Boyd and Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett were either unwilling or unable to offer any further insight on the state of the skipper's hamstring, with both men downplaying the issue.
"It's not too bad, hopefully another week or maybe not even (that long), we'll see how it goes," Boyd said.
"It's a neural thing, it shouldn't be too bad."
"I'd rather talk about the win ... I thought we defended well as a group, it's a team effort and we came prepared to play hard on the night.
"The Cowboys have a few injuries but it's still always a tough ask coming up here and getting a result."
Bennett echoed his captain's sentiments, preferring to make the conversation about his team's improved performance a week after they leaked more than 50 points in a surprise loss to the Eels last round.
"That's (Boyd's injury) for medical to make that decision, it's not serious, and that's the best part, will be one week maybe," he said.
"Tevita has the same problem he had a couple of weeks ago, like Darius it's not serious, it was just cramping up on him.
"There are a few things we can be better at but the bottom line is there was a lot more good for us going forward tonight than what happened last week.
"It wasn't perfect, I wasn't expecting it to be, but I was pleased with the courage they displayed.
"They were really good in that area."
Boyd's injury will no doubt dominate the lead-up to the Broncos' first qualifying final, with the six-time premiers looking likely to take on the Roosters in Sydney next Friday, provided Trent Robinson's troops take care of the struggling Gold Coast on Saturday.
Share
