Brisbane Broncos coach Ivan Henjak has conceded his calculated gamble to play the game's best five-eighth Darren Lockyer at halfback against Melbourne in last week's NRL final did not pay off.

Henjak named youngster Alex Glenn at halfback for injured No.7 Peter Wallace (ankle) in the lead-up to the grand final qualifier.

But Lockyer abandoned his usual game to step into Wallace's role with veteran Tonie Carroll standing at five-eighth.

It was a huge call for Henjak with the club's Toyota Cup halfback Ben Hunt considered too much of a risk and Lockyer willing to take on the challenge.

"I wouldn't change it again," said Henjak on reflection, prepared to admit the move didn't work.

"I know it wasn't successful but I really don't think we could have done anything else.

"I could have thrown Ben Hunt in there, but I don't think that would have been fair to him and I don't know whether it would have changed the result to be honest.

"It would have been tough even if Wal (Wallace) had played."

Henjak said it was difficult for teams to carry quality back-up halves under the salary cap.

"It's really tough to have depth in that particular position because anyone who can play at that level is usually already playing first grade at a club," he said.

"The ones that are around, like Ben Hunt, are all very young.

"You can't carry a John Plath or Casey McGuire like you used to, they were both Origin players who sat on the bench or played some reserve grade."

Henjak quashed rumours some of the club's big name players would be sent packing in 2010.

"I won't be delivering any bad news to the players," said the coach, close to finishing his player performance reviews following his first season at the helm.

Props Joel Clinton and Ashton Sims and back-rowers Ben Te'o and Lagi Setu were all rumoured to be on thin ice during Brisbane's mid-season crash.

But Henjak said they'd all finished the year strongly, playing in the finals.

Te'o and Setu were signed by former coach Wayne Bennett to help Brisbane cover the loss of Carroll, who came out of retirement mid-season, and David Stagg who joined the Bulldogs this year.

Both took some time to find their feet, Setu sent to the Queensland Cup and Te'o overcoming untimely injuries.

"Joel was injured at the back end of the season and came back on the bench but those other three players really performed well at the end of the year," said Henjak.

"Ashton proved very valuable at the end of the year and Ben and Lagi stepped up as well.

"The one thing with me is if players are performing well, they'll be in the team.

"There's no favouritism or no personalities or anything like that with me.

"If you're the best player, you're in the team."

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