Turpin back as Broncos search for rare win

Recovering from a freak injury usually only seen in car accidents, hooker Jake Turpin is hopeful Brisbane can turn 40 solid NRL minutes into 80 against Cronulla on Friday night.

Last round the Broncos started strongly and only trailed powerhouse Melbourne by six points at half-time, but were blown away in the second stanza to lose 46-8.

Losing eight of their past nine, Turpin said it wasn’t good enough.

“We can take some confidence out of our first half as the Storm are the best defensive team in the competition and if we can extend that 40 minutes out to 80 than we’re going to be a really good football team,” the 23-year-old said.

Turpin suffered a knee injury in round three back in late May which was diagnosed as a fracture, although he managed to play out the match.

“I don’t know exactly how I did it but doctors said they hadn’t seen the injury in 30 or so years,” he said.

“It normally happens in car crash injuries – the last time anyone had heard of one in sport was around 30 or so years ago.

“It meant we didn’t know the timeline so it was a bit of a weird one.”

Brisbane coach Anthony Seibold has reshuffled his spine for the Suncorp Stadium match with halfback Brodie Croft out with a shoulder injury, meaning Anthony Milford returns to five-eighth and Darius Boyd to fullback.

“I’ve watched a few of their games and they’ve got some weapons in attack,” Turpin said.

“We’ve done our homework and hopefully we can stop them.”

Meanwhile, Turpin said he would welcome Storm skipper Cameron Smith at the Broncos even if it meant surrendering his starting role.

Smith has been touted as a saviour for the struggling outfit.

While he didn’t break into the top side, Turpin started his career training alongside Smith at the Storm.

“For him to go to any club is massive, he’s the GOAT in my eyes,” Turpin said.

“He could bring so much experience and definitely help any team.

“If he was to come up here it would put a few more bows in my armour because I could learn so much off him.”

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