Two of the NRL’s hottest teams will clash at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night, when surging Brisbane host in-form Canberra in a match with clear finals implications.
Since a heavy loss to Penrith, the Broncos have been won six straight games, their best winning streak since 2017.
They haven’t won seven straight since 2015, but if they can continue the form that’s seen them win by a 20-point average on their recent run, there’s no reason they can’t continue reaching new heights.
Brisbane won’t have State of Origin stars Kurt Capewell (rested) or Kotoni Staggs (shoulder) but Selwyn Cobbo, Patrick Carrigan and Payne Haas are all good to go.
They also get star halfback Adam Reynolds back from his groin and hamstring complaints, a huge boost as they continue their top-four push.
But the Raiders won’t take a backwards step, winning four of their past five games in reviving their campaign.
Canberra will definitely have the services of Josh Papalii as the gun prop only played 20 minutes for Queensland, although coach Ricky Stuart admitted five-eighth Jack Wighton had pulled up sore from his sensational outing in the centres for NSW.
“(Wighton) played the game that we all know he’s got in him,” Stuart told reporters.
“(Papalii and Wighton), they’re both Origin players, for Origin you’ve got to be tough and they’ve definitely got that in bucket loads.
“I just congratulated them both on their performances at that level of football in our team meeting … there’s a lot of players here who are proud of them as well.”
But you would have barely known Papalii was missing last weekend as his front-row mates stepped up in his absence, Joe Tapine crunching out another 209m and grabbing the league’s lead for total post-contact metres, while Corey Hosburgh churned out 132m.
The Raiders will miss Jordan Rapana through a one-game ban, although Stuart admitted the veteran could have done with a week’s rest anyway.
They’ll need to find a way to tame Carrigan, who backed up elite club form with 183m off the bench for the Maroons on Wednesday night.
“He was outstanding, you were certainly aware he was on the field, but it’s not surprising really when you see the work he puts into his game,” Broncos coach Kevin Walters told reporters.
“He’s been great for us this year and he transferred that, like all the Queenslanders did, into the Origin arena.”
