Both Patrick Carrigan and Brendan Piakura have suffered injuries at Brisbane Broncos training on Thursday ahead of this Sunday's Queensland derby with the North Queensland Cowboys.
Piakura's is thought to be the more serious of the two injuries, with the teenage star of the future suffering a strained hamstring.
However, given he isn't named for this week and is sitting behind a queue of second rowers led by recruit Kurt Capewell, Jordan Riki and TC Robati, he is hardly at the top of Kevin Watlers' priority list when it comes to injury news.
Carrigan, who has been simply fantastic for the Broncos over the first two rounds as the club made the perfect start to the season with wins over the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Canterbury Bulldogs, exited training with a jarred knee.
Double injury blow at Broncos. Pat Carrigan has jarred his knee and boom teenager Brendan Piakura (pictured) has strained his hamstring.
Broncos coach Kevin Walters is hopeful Carrigan will be OK for Cowboys derby on Sunday. pic.twitter.com/yMETBa8v5v— Pete Badel (@badel_cmail) March 24, 2022
The club released a statement a short time ago suggesting Carrigan felt "pain in a small muscle behind his knee."
โWeโll see how it settles down overnight and assess it again tomorrow but at this stage Pat is expected to play on Sunday,โ Broncos head of performance Dave Ballard said.
The news on Piakura will need scans before it is revealed how long he will be sidelined for.
โBrendan sustained a hamstring strain and he will be scanned at the Clive Berghofer Centre Qscan facility tomorrow," Ballard added.
Carrigan, who is earmarked as a future Brisbane Broncos' captain, and in making his return from last year's ACL injury which ended his season in Round 9, has already put the right foot forward, averaging 158 metres and 34 tackles per game in the first two contests.
His combination through the middle with Payne Haas has been excellent, with Keenan Palasia completing a middle third which has been unmatched in the opening 160 minutes of the season.
The Broncos will play the Cowboys on Sunday afternoon, with kick-off set for 4:05pm (AEDT). Teams will be trimmed to 19 players on Saturday afternoon (24 hours before kick-off), while final teams will be confirmed 60 minutes before kick-off.
