Brisbane Broncos Training Session
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - MAY 06: Kotoni Staggs passes the ball during a Brisbane Broncos NRL training session at the Clive Berghofer Centre on May 06, 2020 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Brisbane playmaker Tom Dearden is set to be dropped by the Broncos for incoming star Kotoni Staggs as the Broncos enter a must-win clash against the Bulldogs, according to The Courier Mail.

Staggs has missed the last three weeks with a hamstring injury, but after progressing well in his recovery, looks set to regain his position in the team at centre.

Scoring five tries in four games for the Broncos, Staggs was a key pillar for the club and will be a welcome return to a team lacking some spark and match-winning prowess.

Staggs will undergo one last test for the Broncos in the club's captain run before being given the all clear to return.

With Staggs' return into the lineup, he will move into right centre, with Herbie Farnworth to return to the left wing at the expense of Kiwi Test star Jamayne Isaako.

Broncos coach Anthony Seibold is confident Staggs will make his way back into the clubs lineup this weekend.

“Kotoni will play,” Seibold said.

“He got through everything we wanted him to do on Tuesday.

“Kotoni is a good addition to our team, he was very good against Manly and in those early rounds. He has had suspension and injury since then, so he’s a big in for us.

“I am looking forward to getting him back out on the park. We will put Herbie over onto the left wing.”

After originally being named as the number 14 jumper, Dearden could be set to miss out on the 17-man Broncos lineup, with Cory Paix returning from injury.

Dearden has endured a tough last couple of weeks, playing back-up hooker behind Isaac Luke off the bench and has made a couple of key errors in important parts of the game over the last fortnight.

Tom Flegler and Ben Te‘o will be Brisbane’s bench forwards and Seibold will decide between Jamil Hopoate and Rhys Kennedy on who will make the last spot on the interchange bench.

Siebold believes the clash against the Bulldogs will be a scrap and a win will be no easy task ahead of the must win clash.

“We have to get into a scrap,” he said.

“One thing I know about Dean Pay (Bulldogs coach) and teams that he has coached, is that at any level, they scrap hard and they fight hard.

“Watching them play, guys like Josh Jackson and Aiden Tolman and Dylan Napa, they work hard.

“They are a little bit like us, results haven’t shown on the scoreboard for them, but the Bulldogs mentality hasn’t gone away.

“We have to get down and get dirty and be consistent for two halves. If we play only one decent half of footy again, then the Dogs will (beat) us.”

The Broncos and Bulldogs face off at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night at 5.30pm (AEST).