Adam Reynolds and Jordan Riki back NRL depth amid $5 million casualty ward
“You only have to look at the top teams when they are performing well, the players at the bottom are preparing as best they can.
“This is a great opportunity for us as a team to showcase some of these players who may not get the normal freshman training.”
News that Jensen had suffered a pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the lungs) sent shockwaves through the group, with Broncos forward Jordan Riki revealing the prop had expressed some symptoms before the Tigers clash.
“I actually had no idea. I heard before the game that he had a little bit of a cough in the warm-up and stuff like that, and of course you don’t think it’s too bad. But I heard the news afterwards and he had told some kids after the game that he wasn’t feeling that well… pretty shocking,” Riki said.
Reece Walsh (cheekbone), Ben Hunt, Billy Walters, Grant Anderson (all knees), Aublix Tawha (eye socket), Blake Mozer (chin) and Delouise Hoeter (leg) are still trying to overcome setbacks.
Pat Carrigan is serving a two-game suspension and Ben Te Kura took six weeks off to pursue an NFL opportunity. Jesse Arthars was selected despite having a leg issue, as was center Kotoni Staggs, who played against the Tigers with a plantar fascia strain.
“The way to describe it is like you’re standing on a nail. It’s really painful, I don’t think many people can understand,” said Riki, who deals with his own foot problem and suffered the same setback two years ago.
“According to me [Staggs’ injury] quite similar [to mine]. I gave him some stick before and [I’m] I’m a little jealous, he breaks his before mine because then the pain pretty much goes away.
Brisbane will need their remaining forward pack to embody Xavier Willison’s performance against the Tigers; The Kiwi’s move to lock would produce one of the best games of his career with 172 running meters and 54 tackles.
He is joined by Interchange forward Ben Talty, but with the Broncos’ entire starting middle three on the sidelines for Friday’s clash with the Bulldogs, they will need reinforcements to stay upright.
Riki believes 21-year-old Semu, who averages 119 meters per game and has missed just two tackles in five Queensland Cup appearances this year, has the tools to do just that.
“He’s an exciting, big kid – I definitely felt that when I was training with some wrestling groups – and what I like about him is his willingness to learn and [he’s] “I always ask questions,” he said.
“I was here when he first came to the club. He didn’t talk much and was a bit of a shy kid, but he was also a bit loud. I know for a fact that when he gets in there he’s going to have a long career and hopefully he’ll be here at the Broncos.”
Broncos squad to face Bulldogs
1.Jesse Arthars; 2. Josiah Karapani; 3. Kotoni Staggs; 4. Gehamat Shibasaki; 5.Deine Mariner; 6. Ezra Mam; 7. Adam Reynolds; 8. I am Talty; 9. Cory Paix; 10.Jack Gosiewski; 11. Brendan Piakura; 12. Riki of Jordan; 13.Xavier Willison; 14. Josh Rogers; 15. Jaiyden Hunt; 16.Preston Riki; 17. VJ Semu; 18. Hayze Perham; 19, Antonio Verhoeven
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