Matt Gillett's State of Origin hopes have been shattered and Brisbane face the prospect of losing their best try-scoring forward for 10 weeks.

Last year's NRL rookie of the year has been booked for surgery on a foot injury he's been carrying.

Scans revealed the full extent of the injury after he limped off against the Sydney Roosters at Gosford last weekend.

The 22 year-old opted for surgery instead of a six week spell wearing a special moonboot because there was no guarantee the injury would fully heal.

"Matt's had a little foot problem that's got away from him and the smart thing to do is to have the operation and make sure he gets it right," said coach Anthony Griffin.

"There's no separation and we could have left him in a boot for six weeks and tried to rehab it, but the doctor said there was no guarantee after that he would be right to come back to football.

"This way he has the operation and at best it is eight weeks, at worst it is 10 ... and he's 100 per cent right for the rest of the season.

"We just didn't want to risk a whole season with him."

With Ben Te'o still a few weeks away from returning from a fractured arm and Alex Glenn playing the role of bench utility, veteran forward Dane Carlaw, who made his NRL debut for the Broncos in 1999 will start in the back-row with prop Sam Thaiday taking over the left edge role.

Carlaw last started for Brisbane in September 2007.

Griffin said while Gillett's injury created a hole it also allowed other players an opportunity.

"Alex Glenn has been doing a great job on the edge for us and Josh McGuire gets another chance now and Carlaw gets a chance to start.

"It's a disappointment for Matt Gillett, but as a team it gives some other people opportunities.

Brisbane are expecting the Benji Marshall-Robbie Farah-led Tigers to fully test their defensive resolve on Friday night.

While they've been outstanding at defending their errors, the Tigers are the best at punishing sides who turn over possession cheaply.

"There'll be a lot of ball movement, a lot more unorganised kicking because they don't always wait for the last play, it's going to be a real challenge for us," said Griffin.

"The key won't be our defence as much as the amount of ball we give them. We need a really high completion rate so they're getting their sets one at a time and in the areas we want them to get them.

"If we do that, we'll get our chance to shut them down but if we're giving them loose ball down our end of the field, they'll kill us."

The Tigers, boosted by lock Chris Heighington's judiciary escape, will be determined to atone for their poor second half against the Gold Coast last weekend when they blew a 14-0 lead and played poorly.

"If we go out there and give them a 14 point lead they got last week we're going to be chasing our tails trying to reel it back in.

"That's the danger with them, they're a side that can get out and blow you away if you're not right."

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