Lodge set to return from ACL tear via bench

The Broncos have received a massive boost ahead of their home clash with the Eels with prop Matt Lodge ready to return from a partial ACL tear.

Lodge trained strongly on Tuesday and is set to come off the bench at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night.

Coach Anthony Seibold spoke to media prior to the session and had some good news for Brisbane fans after Lodge missed the opening two rounds of the season before the coronavirus pandemic-enforced break.

"We will name him in the number 21 this afternoon and if he gets through training he will be in the 17 and we'll look at who we drop off the bench," Seibold said.

"Lodgey pulled up really well after training on Sunday.

"It shows a lot of determination by Lodgey. He has had to show a fair bit of resilience. He's had this partial tear of his knee since 2015 so he has shown a lot of character to rehab it.

"It has probably been frustrating for him at times after such a good pre-season and then having to miss the start of the year but he will have a job to do off the bench on Thursday night."

Lodge now has to just get through the captain's run on Wednesday to take his place in the side.

With veteran rake Andrew McCullough now at the Knights, the Broncos will look to Jake Turpin to play more minutes in the hooking role.

If Ben wants to come and play for us on a minimum wage I'd love to have him

Anthony Seibold on the prospect of signing Ben Te'o

Seibold said captain Alex Glenn would be able to fill-in at dummy-half should Turpin require a break during the game.

With McCullough's exit the Broncos now have two vacancies in their squad to fill by June 30. Former Broncos forward Ben Te'o remains in Seibold's sights.

"Ben is obviously a player of interest. If Ben wants to come and play for us on a minimum wage I'd love to have him," Seibold said.

"My understanding is that he is still contracted to the Sunwolves and until he gets a bit of clarity on what their commitments are in Super Rugby he is not available.

"We have got to fill two spots by June 30 but they are both for minimum wage. We are not going to pay any more than that because we have some plans in place for 2021."

Seibold said the Broncos had put any skeletons from the 58-0 loss to the Eels in last year's finals series "to bed".

"It was obviously a really embarrassing day for our club but two weeks earlier we beat that same Parramatta team," he said.

"That wasn't a trend in our game last year. We didn't get beaten by 58 points in any other game. While it was brutal it was a pretty big learning curve for the entire group when you don't turn up mentally.

"Other clubs were beaten by pretty big scores too but they probably had that seven days to get back on the bull so to speak and get another ride."