PAYNE-LESS FORTNIGHT ON CARDS FOR BRONCOS
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 brought down by the NRL match review committee on Sunday carries a two-week ban if Haas takes an early guilty plea.
If the Broncos choose to fight the charge, and are unsuccessful, Haas could miss three weeks.
The prop has been the Broncos’ best 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 it would be without its star hooker for between four to six weeks, after fracturing two of his metacarpals.
Turpin had an X-ray at the Clive Berghofer Centre scan facility and is hoping he won’t have to undergo surgery. But the club will seek a specialist’s opinion before a final decision is made in the coming days.
The Broncos have suffered a horror run of injuries in 2020, with skipper Alex Glenn (knee), Matt Lodge (leg), Anthony Milford (hamstring) and Corey Oates (leg) all among the club’s casualty ward.
Interim Broncos coach Peter Gentle refused to blame injuries for the club’s recent run of woes.
“It’s a balancing act. We’re running out of troops, but no excuse,” Gentle said.