Brisbane Broncos forward Brendan Piakura is likely to miss a month with a knee injury as the club's horror injury toll takes another turn for the worst.
The Broncos, who couldn't even name 22 players last Tuesday, and had Kotoni Staggs and Deine Mariner play through the pain barrier against the Canterbury Bulldogs in a shock win on Friday night, will now also lose Piakura.
The Broncos, in a statement, said a return timeline can not be confirmed for Piakura until he sees a surgeon.
"Scans at the Clive Berghofer Centre's Qscan facility show that Brendan Piakura has suffered an injury to the lateral compartment of his left knee," the club said.
"Piakura will see a surgeon to help determine his return to play timeline but will miss Saturday night's game against the Roosters."
It's understood the club are internally expecting him to miss at least a month.
The Broncos, in something of a boost, will get Patrick Carrigan back this week from suspension, and are also hoping for Jesse Arthars and Reece Walsh to return from injury.
Preston Riki will miss a game with suspension though, tossing up a tricky conundrum for Michael Maguire ahead of the Roosters' clash, with there being less than a clear cut second-row with Piakura and Riki both out.
Jordan Riki will line up on one side of the park, but who joins him remains to be seen, with the potential for Jack Gosiewski to slide from prop to second-row, while Carrigan's return moves Xavier Willison from lock to prop alongside Ben Talty.
That need comes with both Payne Haas and Corey Jensen sidelined.
Another fresh face will also be required on the bench, although Brisbane may simply be forced to play with an outside back-heavy bench given Arthars and Walsh's potential return will likely push Hayze Perham and either Josiah Karapani or Gehamat Shibasaki out of the run-on side.
