Te’o solution for Broncos’ woes O’brien to rely on chaos theory

BEN Te’o looms as the answer to Brisbane’s backrower shortage after captain Alex Glenn was the latest to fall following a nasty leg injury in Thursday’s heavy NRL loss to Parramatta.

Glenn, in his first game as Broncos captain, missed the entire second half of the 34-6 defeat and yesterday underwent surgery to clean what was described as a “deep laceration” by the club’s head of performance Paul Devlin.

He must wait for the wound to heal before he can return to training, opening up the prospect of several more weeks on the sideline for the luckless new skipper. It compounds problems for coach Anthony

Seibold given heavy-hitting pair David Fifita (knee) and Tevita Pangai Jnr (suspension) will also be missing.

And the selection headache is set to get even worse for Seibold, given centre Kotoni Staggs is facing a one-week suspension with an early guilty plea following a grade-two careless high-tackle charge on Thursday night.

The match at Suncorp Stadium was Glenn’s first since being appointed Broncos captain after missing the opening two matches with a hamstring injury. In his absence the Broncos conceded 22 points to nil as the Eels romped to a comfortable win.

“We’ll probably have our three key edge backrowers gone … we’ll have to see what we do there,” Seibold said.

“Losing Alex at halftime, had to shuffle a few players around, just probably we didn’t quite handle that.

“They’re big outs but it’s not the reason why we lost.” Glenn’s absence strengthens the likelihood of Ben Te’o’s Red Hill return after the former Bronco, who has played rugby union since 2014, was linked to a move last week.

Te’o had been playing for Japan’s Sunwolves before the Super Rugby season was halted in March. But that contract is set to expire.

NEWCASTLE coach Adam O’brien admits it’s nice to have a chaos manager like Mitchell Pearce in his ranks after warning his side to prepare for some “uncomfortable moments” thanks to the NRL’S new sixagain rule.

The Knights mentor liked what he saw in Thursday’s competition return when a slick Parramatta outfit exploited the changes in a comprehensive defeat of Brisbane.

O’brien said the six-again rule – designed to deter ruck infringements and generally speed up play – suited his side, even with livewire Kalyn Ponga (suspended) on the sidelines for Sunday’s clash with Penrith. “There’s no doubt it’s going to be challenging and there’s going to be some uncomfortable moments where we’re going to have to turn up for your mate,” he said after watching both Brisbane and the Eels scramble.

“I’m confident in what we’ve done in the pre-season, put ourselves in a few uncomfortable moments and come out the other side and the challenge is to do that on Sunday.”

Pearce was instrumental in the Knights’ 2-0 season start before the shutdown and O’brien said the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the NRL’S return made him even more crucial to the side. “The more players that you have out there with experience in chaos is certainly beneficial,” he said.

“And Junior’s (Pearce) certainly a guy that, (based on) last night, would really suit his game and he’s a calming effect on the rest of the group. “They’ve got their heads around what’s sort of coming.” Penrith, also undefeated, will fancy themselves too given probing hooker Api Koroisau’s early-season form.

“He was important to the Panthers in rounds one and two and after last night he’s still important to them,” O’brien said.