Brisbane's depth will be further tested over the State of Origin period after it was confirmed hooker Andrew McCullough will be sidelined for up to six weeks with a broken thumb.
McCullough suffered the injury in the Broncos' shock 19-18 NRL loss to Wests Tigers at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.
A Brisbane spokesman said McCullough may require surgery next week and would be sidelined for at least a month.
McCullough had only just returned from a serious hamstring injury.
It is another blow to Brisbane who were already expected to do it tough over the representative period.
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The Broncos will have six players running out for Queensland in Wednesday night's Origin series opener in Sydney.
