Four Brisbane Broncos go down in as many days, 13 now unavailable
Four key Brisbane players have been sidelined in as many days, including superstar prop Payne Haas, leaving the already under-siege Broncos struggling to even fill a side in the next round. How much worse can it get?
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Brisbane’s dire season has been dealt another heavy blow with boom forward Payne Haas and injured hooker Jake Turpin facing several weeks on the sideline.
Haas was slapped with a Grade Two dangerous contact charge “to the head/neck” of Canberra’s Siliva Havili in the 74th minute.
The charge carries a two-week ban if Haas takes an early guilty plea.
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If the Broncos choose to fight the charge and are unsuccessful, Haas could miss three weeks.
The prop has undoubtedly been the Broncos’ best and most consistent player this season and the loss will leave a huge hole in Brisbane’s engine room.
It comes as Turpin faces at least a month in the casualty ward after suffering a broken hand in the same match.
The club on Sunday confirmed they will be without their star hooker for between four to six weeks, after fracturing two of his metacarpals.
Turpin had an X-ray at the Clive Berghofer Centre Qscan facility and he is hoping he won’t have to undergo surgery.
However, the club said he will seek a specialist’s opinion before a final decision is made in the coming days.
Interim Broncos coach Peter Gentle refused to blame injuries for the club’s recent run of woes.
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“I don’t want to blame injuries … but we missed Turps in the middle there (on Saturday night) with his defence,” Gentle said.
“It’s a balancing act. We’re running out of troops but again no excuse.”
With Xavier Coates (leg, round 16) and Matt Lodge (leg, season) also going down late last week, the Broncos have lost four players in four days.
If Haas is suspended, the Broncos have 13 players unavailable for next week’s clash against the Dragons.
BRISBANE’S CASUALTY WARD
Payne Haas (facing suspension, round 17-18)
Jake Turpin (hand, TBC)
Xavier Coates (foot, round 16-17)
Alex Glenn (knee, round 15-17)
Tevita Pangai Jnr (suspended, indefinite)
Anthony Milford (hamstring, round 17)
Corey Oates (leg, indefinite)
Jordan Kahu (shoulder, indefinite)
Sean O’Sullivan (knee, indefinite)
Keenan Palasia (knee, indefinite)
Tesi Nui (wrist, season)
Matt Lodge (leg, season)
Jack Bird (ACL, season)
Originally published as Four Brisbane Broncos go down in as many days, 13 now unavailable