The huge challenge facing Broncos veteran Andrew McCullough

Brisbane have attracted much of the rumour-mongering during the off-season but one Broncos veteran whose future at Red Hill remains in doubt has hardly been spoken of, writes ROBERT CRADDOCK.

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A new movie called The Invisible Man has become an instant box office hit at the same time a similar story has unfurled at the Broncos.

It stars Andrew McCullough.

The seasoned hooker is bunkering down for one of the most important seasons of his 12-year career but went through the off-season without barely uttering a public word about the challenge that confronts him.

He may yet surface before Friday’s game against the Cowboys but it has been an unusually long silence because McCullough wants nothing to distract him from the challenge of revitalising his first grade career.

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Andrew McCullough is fighting for his place at Brisbane. Photo: Annette Dew

McCullough’s plight has received barely a fraction of that accorded to Darius Boyd’s fight for survival but it is no less intriguing.

Jake Turpin is set to be chosen ahead of him and he has Cory Paix closing in from behind which means McCullough is likely to start off the bench first up.

It’s an interesting move because McCullough is seen as a player who generally gives a team a steady pulse rather than a burst of late electricity, but he must make the most of what he gets.

Players can fade quickly in the ruthless world of rugby league but the Broncos will lose more than just a player when McCullough goes.

Last year he had youngsters Xavier Coates and Tom Dearden living with him.

Between occasionally scaring them with a crazy mask, he showed mentoring skills which are becoming a fading force in our frantic world.

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McCullough had a big role to play at Red Hill. Photo: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

Rugby league teams just don’t seem the same unless they have a few country boys with a touch of bush larrikinism about them.

Like a comedian with a poker face, Dalby-raised McCullough keeps his best work well hidden but his younger years included an occasional playful phone call to an opposition coach, who now claims he has a genuine soft spot for McCullough.

For every theory about how McCullough will perform this year there is a robust counter argument.

Turpin may be faster and flashier but, in a wobbly spine which has every player on trial, McCullough’s 258-game pedigree cannot be discarded without due consideration.

How important could this experience be to Brisbane? Photo: Brett Hemmings/Getty Images

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McCullough seems like he is nearing the end of his career but he is only 30 – six years younger than Cameron Smith.

The Broncos may be stacked with forwards who could knock over a palm tree and shed tackles like a horse’s tail swishes flies, but can they do the defensive work without their most reliable tackler?

Broncos staffers say they have often peered out windows and noticed McCullough doing extras after training this season. They are well worth doing because this is a season where everything he has must be put on the table.