Brisbane winger Corey Oates has a knee injury that could keep him out of Friday night's clash with South Sydney.
The 28-year-old did not train on Monday with his Broncos teammates. He suffered what prop Pat Carrigan said was a posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) injury during Friday night's 26-16 win over Parramatta in Darwin, but battled on till the end of the match.
It is wretched luck for Oates, who was playing his first game in six weeks after breaking his jaw in the round two clash with North Queensland.
The Broncos were expecting to provide an update on Monday afternoon about the extent of Oates' knee injury but it is a blow ahead of the match against the Rabbitohs at Suncorp Stadium.
"I feel for him. He has had a tough run," Carrigan said.
"Medically, I think he has done a PCL or hurt something in his knee. He has tweaked it.
"He wasn't on the (training) field today. I think they will give him every chance to play Friday but he is a bit older so you might as well put him in cotton wool and nurse him through. It is up to the coaching staff."
Jesse Arthars will come in for Oates if he is ruled out.
The competition leaders will be without prop Payne Haas and No.6 Ezra Mam after both accepted one-match suspensions for hip-drop tackles against the Eels.
Former Wests Tigers playmaker Jock Madden will make his Broncos debut in place of Mam while forward Keenan Palasia is likely to slot into the 17 for Haas.
Carrigan said Madden had learned a lot from captain Adam Reynolds, coach Kevin Walters and assistant coach Allan Langer about halfback play and would perform well in the role.
Haas is virtually irreplaceable but Carrigan said he was looking forward to the team rising to the challenge without him.
"Last year we played Souths in Sydney when we didn't have him and we still got the result," Carrigan said.
The subject of hip-drop tackles dominated Carrigan's press conference
He was suspended last year for a third-man-in hip-drop. The game has had more one-on-one variations of the tackle, for which Haas and Mam were suspended.
Carrigan said the definition of what constituted a hip-drop remained unclear, and added no clubs trained to make such tackles.
"We are working here to try and not get in those positions and be better when you are under fatigue. It is a tough one," he said.
"Some are unavoidable. I think the NRL are learning on the run, as much as the players are. Sometimes accidents happen and there probably needs to be a little compromise in that regard ... but we don't want people injured."
