Brisbane Broncos head coach Kevin Walters has revealed Deine Mariner has not suffered a serious injury to his knee.
Mariner was taken from the park during the closing stages of a heavy loss for the Broncos at the hands of the Canterbury Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon, but Walters described the injury as simply a "knock to the knee".
โHe's all right I believe, and I haven't seen any medical specialist but they seem to believe it's just a knock on the knee,โ Walters said during the post-match press conference.
โHe had trouble running but it wasn't anything serious that's going to keep him out long term.โ
The news is positive for the Broncos, with Mariner having made 17 appearances so far this year, and shifting from the wing to centre over the last four games for the club.
One of the struggling club's best, Mariner has scored 16 tries, made 64 tackle busts and also averaged 124 metres per game.
There was also concern expressed for veteran halfback Adam Reynolds, who was playing in just his second game back from a long-term bicep injury.
The suspected leg injury however was described post game as 'just a cork'.
Saturday afternoon's heavy loss to the Bulldogs leaves the Broncos looking more and more unlikely to qualify for the finals. A knock to their for-and-against during the contest will only make things tougher for the Red Hill-based outfit, with Walters' side now likely needing to win all five of their remaining games to stand a chance of qualifying for the top eight.
Those games commence next week, with the Broncos playing away from home against the Gold Coast Titans, before they clash with the North Queensland Cowboys also on the road.
A bye follows, with the final three games seeing the Broncos not leave Brisbane in games against the Parramatta Eels, the Dolphins and Melbourne Storm.
Kevvy has alot 2 do 2 fix this team:
1. GET RID OF THE SHORT DROP OUTS, THATS A HUGE THING
2. MOVE BILLY OUT OF HOOKER AND PUT BLAKE IN, HE’S THE FORTUNE.
3. STOP CHANGING THE TEAM EVERY WEEK,PICK AND STICK.
4. COACH THE TEAM NOT TO PLAY 1 OUT FOOTBALL, THE DOGS SHOW HIS HOW THAT WORKS.
5. QUIT AND MOVE ON, AND BRISBANE GET A BETTER COACH WITH BETTER IDEAS.
(THE SAD THING IS THIS TEAM PLAYED IN THE GF LAST YEAR)
AS A LONG TIME FAN OF THE BRONX ITS PRETTY EMBARRASSING TO SEE 40,000+ FANS START WALKING OUT AT A GAME BECAUSE THIS CLUB IS NOT PLAYING THE SAME QUALITY AS THE REST OF THE TEAMS IN THE COMP, 2 BE HONEST IM A BIT OVER THIS CLUB AND SOME OF KEVVY IDEAS
ON WHERE THIS CLUB IS GOING.