Young Brisbane Broncos centre Marion Seve could be in line for a shock NRL debut this Friday night as the Broncos line up against the New Zealand Warriors at Suncorp Stadium.
With injury clouds hanging over both Jack Reed and James Roberts, Seve has firmed as favourite to replace one of Brisbane's injured stars.
Seve trained on the right edge throughout today's full contact session at Red Hill, lapping up the opportunity and featuring heavily in a number of Brisbane's set plays.
Seve was a stark contrast to the dejected figure of James Roberts, with the 23-year-old restricted to passing drills and shuttle runs with injured teammate Jordan Kahu.
Broncos teammate Sam Thaiday believes Seve is more than capable of replacing James Roberts if the 23-year-old is ruled out.
"We'll have to wait and see, you never know with Wayne [Bennett]. Seve filled in nicely at right centre this morning," Thaiday said.
"Seve's someone that has come to our club and impressed. You could see a couple of rookies out there this Friday if there are those injuries.
"If Wayne can challenge these young blokes and blood them early then it's only going to help us later on down the track. The period of May, June and July is always tough. When Origin does start we'll need these guys the most."
Seve signed from the Wests Tigers at the beginning of the year and the 20-year-old has immediately impressed.
A testicular cancer survivor, Seve scored two tries for Ipswich in the Intrust Super Cup last weekend in a performance that has him pushing hard for first grade selection.
With Seve looking likely to start on the right edge, it appears Jack Reed will return on the left.
Reed trained like a man possessed on Tuesday morning as he looked to convince Bennett that he was ready to return from a shoulder injury.
Trainers believe Reed is a 50-50 chance of starting and Thaiday says he wants the England international to play.
"He still needs to have a few medical checks before he can play. He trained today with plenty of enthusiasm. He's training hard and doing all the tackling," he said.
"He jumped into the forwards with Josh McGuire and myself today. That was impressive because he really tested himself out.
"I hope he plays but if not I'm sure he'll be there next week or the week after.
"James Roberts has old injuries that he's been carrying and brought with him to our club. We're still trying to figure out how to manage him."
