Prop Dave Taylor carries the `boom' tag but rookie Brisbane forward Palmer Wapau is the player everyone is waiting to see have a crack at the NRL big time.

It could happen in Good Friday's NRL blockbuster against the Roosters with Brisbane reeling from a serious forward crisis just one week into the season.

Starting prop Joel Clinton (medial ligament) and goal kicking second-rower Corey Parker (posterior cruciate) are both eyeing off up to a month of the sidelines with knee injuries.

Prop Ben Hannant (ankle tendon) was named in coach Wayne Bennett's 17-man squad but could be a late scratching after consulting a specialist.

Hannant rated his chances at 50-50 and it would be a huge gamble taking on a Roosters pack which muscled up against South last weekend.

Rockhampton products Taylor - banished to the Queensland Cup last week where he scored two rousing tries for the Comets - and Nick Kenny, come into Bennett's 17-man squad on the bench with Sam Thaiday moving into the front-row for Clinton.

Darren Lockyer starts at five-eight after making his comeback from knee surgery off the bench against Penrith, allowing David Stagg to take Parker's place in the back row.

It's believed the exciting Wapau, who earned rave reviews in his first season for Redcliffe in the Queensland Cup last year, is the player on standby for Hannant.

Wapau, 25, would find the step up the NRL daunting and had it not been for the spate of injuries to front rowers, it's highly unlikely he'd be blooded so soon despite the high opinion of him.

A natural footballer, Wapau is regarded as a genuine game breaker.

He has a great step and can open sides up with his clever passing and short off-loads.

"He's got a great off-load, good ball skills and he's a big fellow too," said halfback Peter Wallace who'll assume Parker's goal kicking duties against the Roosters.

"If he gets a run, I'm sure he'll do well."

Wapau single handedly won the 2006 Cairns grand final for Innisfail Leprechauns scoring three tries playing in the centres before coming to Brisbane.

Described last season by his Abergowrie College classmate and now North Queensland dynamo Matt Bowen as the most talented outside the NRL, Wapau was kept back after training for a gut-busting session supervised by the club's fitness director Jeremy Hickmans.

When he finished Hickmans' torture test he was gasping for air.

Wallace said guys like Taylor and Kenny, who would have been disappointed about missing last week's game against Penrith, got a chance this week to impress the coach.

"They're two very good players who get their shot this week," he said.

Brisbane have a day off on Wednesday and will head to Sydney on Thursday afternoon after wrapping up their preparations with a training run at Red Hill.

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