Underdogs North Queensland arrived in Brisbane on Wednesday amused by reports they would strike a newly bulked-up Broncos side in their NRL derby at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.

The players passed around copies of a newspaper report which said the Broncos team was the strongest in the club's 24-year history with 12 players bench pressing 150kg-plus in the pre-season.

"I'm (bench pressing) about 80 kilos at the moment," said Cowboys prop and co-captain Matt Scott with a smirk.

"I haven't known anyone to score a try in the gym yet."

On a serious note, Scott said Brisbane had a quality pack that would be tough to get over on Friday night.

"Ben Hannant coming back into the club adds a bit of depth but they've got a lot of young, fast, strong forwards so it's going to be a tough night for us," he said.

Coach Neil Henry also saw the humorous side to the Broncos' "gym junkies" report.

"Everyone's muscled up this time of the year aren't they?" said Henry.

"We've all had three months of pre-season.

"Talking about how much blokes can bench press ... I don't think that equates to playing footy sometimes."

Experienced Cowboys centre Willie Tonga arrived in Brisbane declaring he wouldn't be taking Brisbane rookie Jack Reed lightly after his destructive performance in the Broncos' 26-4 trial match win in Alice Springs last month.

"I don't know a real lot about him but I know he is a big unit," Tonga said.

"I won't be going out there thinking `I've got it over him' and I'll be giving him the respect I would give any other centre.

"If I don't, he could make me look a fool."

Henry was impressed with the Bribie Island bricklayer in Alice Springs.

"He's been a real find, hasn't he?," Henry said.

"He scored two tries against us and got through three players for the last one."

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