Andrew McCullough has made a bold bid to make a remarkable return from an elbow injury in Brisbane's NRL clash with Canterbury on Thursday night.
The hooker was expected to be sidelined for four to six weeks but he returned to Broncos training on Monday after missing just one game - last round's win over South Sydney.
McCullough, Todd Murphy and Kodi Nikorima trained at dummy half with Brisbane needing another option at No.9 against the Bulldogs after replacement rake Josh McGuire suffered a six week ankle injury against the Rabbitohs.
Brisbane playmaker Anthony Milford did not rule out McCullough making a stunning return against the Bulldogs.
"I am not too sure. He had a good run out there today so will just see what happens," he said.
Milford didn't seem surprised that McCullough was running around barely two weeks after suffering a hyperextended elbow.
"Everyone knows how Macca is. He is doing everything off the field to make sure he is right for the game; I am sure he will be back soon," he said.
Brisbane appeared to face a hooker crisis when McGuire went down against South Sydney in his first game at hooker.
But Milford believed they had plenty of depth with Nikorima, Murphy and now McCullough putting their hands up for selection against the Dogs.
"I guess there is an opportunity (at hooker). We had Murph there training today and Kodi has been injecting himself from dummy half," Milford said.
"Todd controls the game real well and he trained all pre-season at nine with Macca being out (with knee injury).
"I am sure he wouldn't look out of place if he gets the chance to wear the Broncos jersey."
Milford said Brisbane (10th with a 4-4 record) were ready to turn their season around against the 14th-placed Bulldogs (2-6) after downing the Rabbitohs in what he described as their best win of 2018.
"It was (best) based on team performance. We got a lot of confidence out of that to get our season back on track again," he said.
Australian Associated Press