Brisbane are bracing to be without hooker Andrew McCullough until the NRL finals after their dummy-half suffered a suspected knee injury in their loss to Parramatta on Friday night.
McCullough suffered a possible medial ligament injury and will miss five to six weeks if the club's fears are confirmed.
After copping friendly fire from Adam Blair while trying to run a block play on Michael Jennings, McCullough was assisted from ANZ Stadium with 12 minutes remaining.
It leaves the Broncos short on options at dummy-half with no clear replacement in their squad.
The No.9 workhorse has made the most tackles of any player in the competition this year - 807 at an average of 44.8 - and has been an 80-minute performer.
Kodi Nikorima, who missed Friday's match because of a hip injury, shapes as one option however has never started a game at No.9.
Ben Hunt has played there throughout his career - which would allow Nikorima or Benji Marshall to move into the starting halves - while Josh McGuire has filled in there at Test level for Samoa.
"He makes 50 tackles, we need to find someone who will do that many for us," Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett said.
"He's a big player in our team. We've got a couple of options."
Broncos skipper Darius Boyd described McCullough as a difficult man to replace.
"He brings a lot, he's the heart and soul of the team," Boyd said.
"Fingers crossed he can get back on the field as soon as possible."
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