After volunteering to step up for sidelined hooker Andrew McCullough, Sam Thaiday hopes Brisbane can now do "something special" for the injured rake by ending their NRL premiership drought.
Queensland backrower Thaiday revealed he put his hand up for the daunting task of filling the big shoes left behind by McCullough, who suffered a season-ending knee injury three weeks ago.
Coach Wayne Bennett didn't argue, starting Thaiday at dummy half for the first 20 minutes against the Sharks in round 23, before injecting Ben Hunt off the bench.
Starting Hunt from the bench before he moves into the dummy half role has proved a master stroke with Brisbane scoring 86 points in their two convincing wins in McCullough's absence.
It's a trend Thaiday hopes continues as the Broncos chase their first premiership since 2006.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
"I gave him the idea. He (Bennett) was to-ing and fro-ing over a few different people so I put my hand up," Thaiday said of replacing McCullough.
"It is a tough position to play. I take back every bad word I have said about dummy halves.
"But when you lose such a key playmaker, everyone stands up and I think we have done that to try and fill the void Macca has made.
"Hopefully we can achieve something special this year and repay Andrew for all the hard work he has done this year."
Brisbane will again use the same ploy with Thaiday starting at No.9 in Friday night's Suncorp Stadium clash with ninth-placed St George Illawarra.
Thaiday has no regrets about stepping up in McCullough's absence, saying it was better than having Hunt have to defend in the middle for 80 minutes.
"I knew replacing Andrew McCullough would be a tough job," he said.
"Throwing Ben Hunt in the deep end, defending in the middle, doing all that work, I knew it would be a tough task for him for 80 minutes.
"So why not have me out there for the first 20 minutes, take the sting out of it.
"It's about playing smarter not harder."
And Thaiday had no problem with Hunt replacing him after 20 minutes.
"To be honest it is enjoyable to see Ben come out and do what he does best," he said.
"He is a fantastic runner of the ball.
"I am sure he will jump out of dummy half again, we will see if we can come up with some more brilliant plays and brilliant tries."
