Brisbane feeling Maroons' Origin pain
Brisbane is feeling Queensland's pain from Wednesday night's fiery Origin loss with captain Darren Lockyer and forward leader Sam Thaiday ruled out of Friday night's NRL clash with South Sydney.
And the pain may become more intense with fullback Karmichael Hunt and centre Justin Hodges still to tell coach Ivan Henjak if they will be fit to back-up in the NRL's double-header at Suncorp Stadium which was 1,000 tickets shy of a sellout on Thursday.
The Bulldogs and Titans play the second game.
Lockyer's latest knee injury -- a slight medial strain -- is not considered too serious with a possible two weeks on the sidelines.
It's not the knee which ruled him out of last year's Origin series.
Hooker Aaron Gorrell will play five-eighth for the Broncos in Lockyer's absence while Ben Teo comes into the back-row for Thaiday (ribs).
"It's not the best news, but we've had a really good week of training with the guys who have been here," said Henjak, attempting to keep a positive spin on things.
"We'll have 17 players tomorrow (Friday) and they'll do a good job.
"We've still got tomorrow to get through (with Hodges and Hunt).
"They'll call me in the morning to let me know if they are OK."
Hodges has a poor track record at backing up after Origin and Test matches.
Henjak admitted he was happy when the siren sounded to end Wednesday night's spiteful Origin, averting the risk of possible suspensions if things got more out of hand as some Queenslanders sought a "get square" after Maroons prop Steve Price was felled while trading blows with rival Brett White.
"I was," said Henjak.
"It got a bit heated at the end, I suppose that's the passion that's involved in those sort of games.
"It was good see we didn't get any suspensions out of it because we've got enough injuries, we don't need anything else to go wrong.
"I'm happy it's over and Queensland have won (the series).
"We did get a few injuries out of it and it has affected us, but it's over now and we've got eight weeks to concentrate on our year and get back to playing some good footy.
Prop Joel Clinton will play his first game back since suffering a sickening head clash against the Warriors a fortnight ago.
"He was a little bit dusty when he came back but all indications are he's doing alright," said Henjak.
"But I guess we really won't know until he makes a few tackles and takes a few hits."
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