Brisbane utility Kodi Nikorima has declared he doesn't want the Broncos No.9 jersey with Josh McGuire ruled out indefinitely with injury.
The club's hooking crisis plunged to new depths after the fill-in rake suffered a torn anterior ligament in his ankle in Thursday's NRL win over South Sydney.
They can't put a timeline on his return and he could yet be required to undergo surgery pending consultation with a specialist next week.
Nikorima appears the natural choice to step into the starting dummy-half role against Canterbury next Thursday.
But he says it isn't one he's capable of filling.
"Nope. Nope," Nikorima said when asked if he wanted to wear the No.9 jersey.
"I don't want to. I don't have 80 minutes at hooker.
"We'll see what we've got. We've got a couple of options there. If Wayne turns around next week and says 'you're playing hooker', then I'll play hooker.
"But there's heaps of other options. There's Todd Murphy, I rate him him pretty highly."
Nikorima has regularly slotted into hooker off the bench but never started in the No.9.
Regular starting hooker Andrew McCullough is out for three to five weeks with an elbow injury.
Bennett categorically ruled out using Sam Thaiday at dummy-half after his poor showing there in the season opener against St George Illawarra.
Murphy could earn his debut in the No.9 despite being primarily seen as a half.
The 27-year-old trained at No.9 with the Broncos throughout the pre-season and could be their best option in desperate circumstances.
He has served a long apprenticeship after years in the Queensland Cup and a stint with Cronulla.
Nikorima bounced backed to his best against the Rabbitohs, providing spark off the bench and denied one try by the video referee before scoring a decisive four-pointer in the second half.
It came just a week after he was dropped as a starting half in favour of Jack Bird.
"I had a good heart to heart with Wayne as I was coming back from injury," Nikorima said.
"The boys played well the week before that, so he said 'I'm going to bring you off the bench this week, I don't want to change what we've been doing'.
"I took it as it is. To be honest I just love playing footy for this team. I want to play in the halves but I want to do the job anywhere I can for this team.
"For a couple of hours it hurt but I move on pretty quickly."
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