Another key injury has forced Wayne Bennett to throw Ben Hunt in as Brisbane starting hooker ahead of the NRL finals. Not that the Broncos coach is complaining.
Bennett said a front-row reshuffle prompted by prop Korbin Sims' broken arm had only fast-tracked his plan to hand Hunt the No.9 jersey for Brisbane's 2017 title tilt.
The Broncos are reeling from another injury blow ahead of Thursday night's NRL clash with a desperate North Queensland in Townsville.
Scans confirmed Sims had suffered a fracture in last round's embarrassing 52-34 loss to Parramatta, leaving him to join hooker Andrew McCullough on the sidelines.
Sims' unlucky break forced Bennett to scrap his successful ploy to start Sam Thaiday at hooker in McCullough's absence then inject Hunt off the bench after 20 minutes.
But Bennett had no complaints after Thaiday moved from hooker to prop and bench No.9 Hunt was confirmed as starting rake against the Cowboys.
"It's ideal to me because Ben is the best player we've got to play hooker," Bennett said.
"I would rather have him out there for 80 minutes than 60 minutes.
"I want the best players on the field to start and he is the best in that position.
"We just have to take our time with it."
Broncos great Gorden Tallis has already called for Hunt to step up and become an 80-minute hooker for Brisbane's finals campaign.
But Bennett will be taking a more patient approach.
"I am not expecting him to play 80 minutes," he said.
"If he can, that is great but if he can't we will just get him off.
"We know Sam (Thaiday) can do the job, Benji Marshall is on the bench and we know (halfback) Kodi Nikorima can go to hooker so there are plenty of options."
Hunt's injection off the bench over the past month has sparked a Brisbane attack ranked second in points (25.1 per game), tries (4.3) and run metres (1499m) ahead of the Cowboys clash.
Bennett said there was no extra pressure on Nikorima to step up despite another quiet display against the Eels.
"I need to see more from a whole lot of guys who didn't play well last week, he's one of a number of them," he said.
Share
