Roberts fit to go against the Sharks, Bennett insists
Broncos coach Wayne Bennett has confirmed star centre James Roberts is a certain starter for tonight’s away clash against Cronulla at Southern Cross Group Stadium.
Roberts is battling an achilles injury he has been managing since the pre-season, but Bennett says the newly crowned NSW Origin flyer will take his place at right centre.
The only change could be to Brisbane’s bench, with Bennett to decide between young gun Kotoni Staggs and ex-Shark Sam Tagataese for the last spot.
The presence of Roberts is a boost for the eighth-placed Broncos (16 points), who face the prospect of being pushed out of the top eight.
“James will play – he is good to go,” Bennett said. “We are all fit. I’m still undecided about our bench, it will either be him (Tagataese) or Kotoni.
“We’ve had some bad experiences on a Saturday night down there but we’ve had some good ones too.
“The Sharks are playing good footy – they are a tough football team.”
Having lashed his side for their poor second half in last week’s 32-16 loss to the Storm, Bennett is banking on skipper Darius Boyd to spearhead a better 80-minute performance against the Sharks.
Boyd dropped a bombshell on Monday, quitting Queensland and Australian representative football, and Bennett applauded his captain’s decision.
“I’m happy for Darius because it was his decision and he’s happy with it,” he said.
“After that, it doesn’t matter what I think.
“The decision is not for me. “Darius doesn’t have to worry about (Origin) game two now – he has made his decision, he is in control of his own life, he is not sitting around waiting to see if he is in or out or in between.”