Brisbane Broncos second-rower Kurt Capewell has been ruled out for at least the next two games with a quad injury.
The club have revealed the second rower, who missed selection in this year's Queensland State of Origin squad in one of a number of big calls from coach Billy Slater, has been playing with the injury in recent weeks.
With a bye last weekend, and another in Round 19 ahead of Origin 3, the club have taken the call to give Capewell a prolonged period of rest that will leave him at full fitness for the final weeks of the campaign, with Brisbane set to make a push into September provided the second half of the season doesn't go pear-shaped.
โCapes has played with the pain of a quadricep tendinopathy over the past month and has done a great job to have been able to play through those games," Brisbane head of performance Dave Ballard said in a club statement.
โNow with the two bye rounds close together, we have taken the decision to rest the injury and allow it time to recover to make sure he is ready to go for the remainder of the season.
โThe injury has already benefitted from having last weekend off, and Capes' return to play date will be determined by how the injury continues to improve.
โWe will see how Capes progresses before making a decision beyond this weekend with the expectation of a Round 20 return against the Bulldogs.โ
The Broncos play the Gold Coast Titans this weekend before facing another derby in the full round between Origin 2 and 3 against the Dolphins at The Gabba.
The Red Hill-based outfit, who still have two byes remaining this year, sits at the top of the NRL ladder with 11 wins to their name from 15 games.
