In Brisbane's hour of need, coach Kevin Walters has turned to journeyman centre Brenko Lee to provide the proven big-game success and defensive clout needed to secure a NRL finals berth.
The eighth-placed Broncos host the fifth-placed Eels on Thursday night needing to win one of their remaining two games to make the finals.
Lee, who has battled soft tissue injuries this season, last played for Brisbane in the 36-14 win over the Eels in round 19 and replaces Delouise Hoeter from the side that was thumped 60-12 by Melbourne.
A positive development in 26-year-old Lee's game is revealed by the NRL's official statistics. This year Lee has a tackle efficiency of 94 per cent, the best of his career, and has missed just five tackles in seven games.
Four-time Broncos premiership-winning centre Steve Renouf says Lee is "the right man at the right time" for Walters.
"The Broncos have leaked a lot of points lately so they need someone like Brenko just to stiffen up the defence," Renouf said..
"He has performed in big arenas. It's a big game for Brisbane so this is a smart move by Kevvie."
Lee won a grand final with the Storm in 2020, the same year he played the game of his life in the State of Origin decider for Queensland.
In nine seasons since making his NRL debut in 2014 as an 18-year-old at Canberra, he has played 74 games with five clubs.
From the Raiders he went to Canterbury and then Gold Coast, Melbourne and now Brisbane as he solidified his rugby league "journeyman" credentials. Next year he will join the Dolphins to make it club number six.
"I am a fan of Brenko. He has been a good journeyman and anyone that spends time with Craig Bellamy at the Storm is going to become a better player," Renouf said.
"Brenko is a big body and smart in defence. That is only going to help (five-eighth) Ezra Mam, who he is related to as well.
"Brenko can be a bit of protection for him on the outside, although Ezra is going to need even more protection on the inside."
Mam missed 10 tackles against Melbourne and Walters joked that this week he had to give him "a bit of a slap around the head and a cuddle as well".
"It was a tough assignment for him last week against Nelson (Asofa-Solomona) but he's been one of our better players week-in and week-out," Walters said.
"Defensively he was very brave and he will need to be that again against the Eels. Defence is an attitude and he has a great attitude towards it."
