Qld Teams - Lockyer plays on as Broncos hit rock bottom

Darren Lockyer will play representative football this year despite the Broncos languishing at the bottom of the NRL ladder.

Lockyer announced his desire to steer Queensland to a record fifth straight series win over New South Wales as a key motivation.

The 33-year-old veteran of 50 Tests and 30 Origin matches said a strong pre-season left him physically prepared for another representative campaign.

The announcement came after speculation and media debate as to whether Lockyer was needed at the Broncos all season.

Brisbane has made a terrible start to the 2010 season with three poor performances eliminating a Round One victory and sending the club plummeting to the bottom of the ladder.

The Broncos plight got worse on Monday with winger Antonio Winterstein and makeshift centre Ben Te’o axed for Friday night’s clash with the Dragons for disciplinary reasons.

Both were late for a training session and will play Queensland Cup this week.

Winterstein’s suspension breaks a run of 31 consecutive matches for the Broncos with the winger playing every game since his debut in Round One last year.

The drama follows weekend News Limited reports of a verbal altercation at Broncos training last week involving two members of the coaching and support staff, the suspension of assistant coach Allan Langer following a DUI charge and a host of injuries to some of the club’s highest paid and most damaging players.

Henjak makes changes

On the back of three consecutive losses, Broncos coach Ivan Henjak has made a host of changes for Friday’s Wollongong clash with the Wayne Bennett-coached St George-Illawarra side.

Fresh from a four try performance in the Under 20’s competition, centre Dale Copley will add to his handful of NRL games this weekend.

Gerard Beale, who has started the last two matches from the bench, replaces Winterstein on the wing with rookie Mitch Rivett retained after a decent debut in the 25-6 loss to the Roosters.

Ashton Sims moves into the front row and Lagi Setu to the back row with Nick Kenny to play off the bench.

Back-rower Dunamis Lui, also from the Under 20’s side, could debut from the bench while Mitchell Dodds has replaced Josh McGuire in the squad.

Josh Hoffman, one of the candidates for Karmichael Hunt’s vacant fullback position at the start of the season, is the last man on the five man bench.

Last season the Broncos knocked the Dragons out of the competition with a 24-10 win in the second week of the Finals series.

However the Brisbane side is full of new faces and their form pales in comparison to that side last year, installing the Dragons as heavy favourites to win Friday night.

Laffranchi back

Key back-row forward Anthony Laffranchi is named to tackle the Storm on Friday night after missing the Titans 32-18 loss to the Cowboys.

Laffranchi was a late withdrawal due to a lower back injury as the Titans struggled without him and halfback Scott Prince.

Coach John Cartwright blamed poor ball control rather than the absence of key players for his side’s first loss of the season.

Ten years after making his debut with Brisbane, Titans lock Ashley Harrison will play his 200th game when he runs out to face Melbourne at Skilled Park Friday night.

Cartwright has added Laffranchi to the squad that played the Cowboys while centre Joseph Tomane will play his first match against his former club.

The Storm, undefeated after four matches, sit alone on top of the table.

In a rare Friday night double, two of Queensland’s three NRL sides will feature but the Titans game will be televised on delay across the state.

Cowboys unchanged

Coach Neil Henry has stuck with the same side that defeated the Titans for Saturday night’s home match against Wests Tigers.

He has added Steve Southern and Manase Manuokafoa, both who played Queensland Cup last week, to a six man bench but the rest of the team is unchanged.

Henry brought youngsters Will Tupou, Ray Thompson and James Tamou into the side before dropping Carl Webb for Leeson Ah Mau in the lead up to the Titans match.

Former Tiger Shannon Gallant was a late call up to replace the injured Ty Williams (ankle, biceps) at fullback and also performed well against the Titans.

Tupou, Thompson, Tamou and Gallant have been retained for the Tigers match as the Cowboys continue working on eradicating their slow start to the season.

The Dairy Farmers Stadium match will feature on Fox Sports Super Saturday this weekend.

Channel Nine’s Friday Night Football will show the Broncos match live from 7:30pm with the Titans game to follow from about 9:20pm.

Brisbane Broncos vs. Dragons, Friday 7:35pm, (Channel Nine, live)
Corey Norman, Gerard Beale, Dale Copley, Alex Glenn, Mitch Rivett, Darren Lockyer (c), Peter Wallace, Ashton Sims, Andrew McCullough, Scott Anderson, Lagi Setu, Sam Thaiday, Matt Gillett. Interchange: Ben Hunt, Mitchell Dodds, Dunamis Lui, Nick Kenny, Josh Hoffman (one to be omitted).

Gold Coast Titans vs. Storm, Friday 7:30pm, (Channel Nine, delayed 9:30pm)
William Zillman, Kevin Gordon, Mat Rogers, Joseph Tomane, David Mead, Greg Bird, Preston Campbell, Luke Bailey (c), Nathan Friend, Brad Meyers, Anthony Laffranchi, Mark Minichiello, Ashley Harrison. Interchange: Matthew White, Michael Henderson, Sam Tagataese, Riley Brown, Will Matthews (one to be omitted).

North Queensland Cowboys vs. Tigers, Saturday 7:30pm, (Fox Sports, live)
Shannon Gallant, John Williams, Ashley Graham, Willie Tonga, Will Tupou, Ray Thompson, Johnathan Thurston (c), Matt Scott, Aaron Payne, Antonio Kaufusi, Scott Bolton, Steve Rapira, Luke O’Donnell. Interchange: Anthony Watts, James Tamou, Willie Mason, Leeson Ah Mau, Steve Southern, Manase Manuokafoa (two to be omitted).