Cameron Smith says Brisbane will be tested without star hooker Andrew McCullough

MAROONS hooker Cameron Smith says the Broncos face a testing period without Andrew McCullough with his Origin understudy facing up to six weeks on the sidelines.

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA — APRIL 20: Andrew McCullough of the Broncos looks dejected as he is taken from the field injured during the round seven NRL match between the Brisbane Broncos and the Melbourne Storm at Suncorp Stadium on April 20, 2018 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

MAROONS hooker Cameron Smith says the Broncos face a testing period without Andrew McCullough with his Origin understudy facing up to six weeks on the sidelines.

Broncos coach Wayne Bennett admits he is clueless over how to replace McCullough for this Thursday night’s clash against the Rabbitohs in Sydney.

McCullough injured his elbow in the 51st minute of Brisbane’s 34-20 loss to the Storm on Friday night. Scans showed the veteran hooker suffered ligament damage, with McCullough ruled out for four to six weeks in a crushing blow for the Broncos.

McCullough suffered an elbow injury in the loss to Melbourne.

Brisbane’s title hopes fell apart last season without McCullough, who underwent a knee reconstruction after snapping his ACL just a month before the NRL finals.

Now the Broncos’ pack has suffered a fresh decimation, with McCullough entering the casualty ward alongside star back-rower Matt Gillett, who will miss two to three months with a fractured neck.

McCullough is the defensive glue who holds the Brisbane pack together and Smith, his Storm hooking rival, says his absence leaves a huge void in the Broncos’ starting side.

“I’m not too sure who will fill his position but they will miss him for sure,” he said.

“I’ve spent a bit of time with Andrew in the Origin camps, he has been in a couple of those over the years.

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“He is a quality person to start with, he is a tough, no-frills player who goes out and gets the job done every week.

“He has been fantastic for the Broncos for a long time now.”

Bennett has a major selection headache for the road trip to Sydney’s ANZ Stadium.

Utility Kodi Nikorima is one option for McCullough’s No. 9 jumper, while versatile forwards Josh McGuire and Alex Glenn have previously had stints in the hooking role.

By shifting McGuire or Glenn into dummy-half for the opening exchanges, Bennett could promote boom back-rower Jaydn Su’A into the starting side and use Nikorima at hooker later in the game.

McCullough’s understudy, Queensland under-18s hooker Jake Turpin, is currently sidelined with a broken ankle.

Brisbane have no specialist backup for McCullough.

One certainty is that Bennett will not revisit his experiment with Sam Thaiday after the retiring warhorse started at hooker in round one against the Dragons.

Broncos high-performance chief Jeremy Hickmans said McCullough had been cleared of a more serious break.

“In good news, all tendons are intact and there are no fractures in his arm,” said Hickmans.

“While there is some muscle damage, it is secondary to the ligament damage.

“With an injury of this type he is expected to return to the field in four to six weeks.”

The Broncos were good in patches of the game, they played aggressively and had the mindset right from the start to get stuck into us early and unsettle us. I thought our team did a good job to stay focused on what we were prepared to do. Milford showed class at stages and Alex Glenn was outstanding for them, they have some quality players. If they get some good possession and field position they are a dangerous footy side, but we did a good job for the majority of the game.

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