New Brisbane coach Anthony Seibold has a selection headache ahead of him for round 1 as young centre Kotoni Staggs outshone Jack Bird in Saturday night's trial against Wynnum Manly.
Staggs was dangerous all night down the right hand side as Brisbane beat Queensland Cup side Wynnum Manly 26-12 at Kougari Oval.
The 20 year-old was able to get across the line in the 52nd minute and he also added an assist to winger Richie Kennar in the first half.
A performance of this calibre from the 20 year-old is sure to put him on the radar for a regular starting spot in the Broncos team.
But unfortunately there are only two spots and these seem to have been locked down by New South Wales centre James Roberts and Bird, who is costing too much against Brisbane's salary cap to be sitting on the sidelines.
Staggs' best hope of a spot in the round 1 team to face Melbourne Storm is as a utility off the bench, which he is more than capable of doing.
The extremely versatile youngster mostly came off the bench for Wayne Bennett last season.
With the weekend's performance fresh in the minds of those Broncos fans who saw the game, do not expect it to be long before we see many calling for Staggs to be inserted into the starting 13.
Bird was quiet in limited playing time. His lone good moment came when he supported five-eight Sean O'Sullivan who made a break up the middle. Bird was eventually brought to the ground and a quick play the ball led to Kennar's try.
It is too early to know whether or not Bird will be able to recapture the form he showed as a Cronulla Shark.
Although coach Seibold will be satisfied with Bird just returning to the field, unless he is able to find some form in the early part of the season expect Seibold to turn to Staggs to partner Corey Oates on the left hand side.
Staggs appeared in nine games last season for the Broncos and scored two tries including one in a debut win against the Roosters.
