Benji to make way for boom Bronco
BENJI Marshall’s Broncos return has been short-lived, with the big-name recruit to make way for young hulk Tevita Pangai Jnr for tonight’s clash against the Raiders at Suncorp Stadium.
Pangai Jnr was an 11th-hour scratching against Melbourne last week, succumbing to an ankle injury despite taking part in Brisbane’s training run 24 hours before.
The 21-year-old trained well yesterday morning and has been recalled to square off against his former Canberra colleagues at the expense of Marshall, who made his Broncos debut off the bench last week after a recent Achilles injury.
The former Junior Kangaroo has been named in the No.15 jumper and the Broncos are banking on his interchange impact to counter a monster Raiders pack.
“They all trained well, we are 1-17,” Broncos coach Wayne Bennett said.
“Canberra have a lot of big guys, they will challenge a fair bit, we will have to put our bodies on the line.
“It’s not that we aren’t playing well, we are just letting ourselves down with execution. I don’t feel we are playing catch-up, we are playing well, we just have to play a bit better.
“We played a huge game the last two weeks and we were extremely brave against the Storm. Emotionally and physically the big games take it out of you.”
Canberra coach Ricky Stuart had big plans for Pangai Jnr when the 113kg hulk dropped a bombshell 18 months ago, requesting a release after phoning Wayne Bennett seeking a chance at the Broncos.
Centre James Roberts carried a knee injury into last week’s clash against Melbourne but trained strongly yesterday without any strapping.