Turpin gets back-up as Segeyaro rides into Red Hill

Broncos coach Anthony Seibold has outlined how the stars aligned for the club to sign former Sharks rake James Segeyaro who is set to keep the heat on Jake Turpin in the weeks ahead.

Seibold confirmed Segeyaro would be joining Brisbane and playing in the side’s 17 in the wake of the 26-10 win over Manly.

Turpin, elevated to replace Andrew McCullough who is out with an MC injury, was outstanding against Manly in an 80-minute performance of energy and guile.

"Originally we were led to believe that Andrew McCullough would need an operation which would have him out for 10 to 12 weeks, and then we got some good news that he didn’t need the operation and that he would only be out for six or seven weeks," Seibold said.

"Young Jake Turpin, that was his third game of NRL and he did a terrific job to play 80 minutes which he hadn’t ever done at this level.

"He was in a bit of doubt after he only trained once this week, and our next option was Cory Paix who is an 18-year-old kid and a development list player and we would have had to apply for dispensation, and with Kodi Nikorima going we had a spot on our roster."

Enter former Panthers, Cowboys and Sharks hooker Segeyaro, who has been playing with Cronulla's feeder club Newtown in the Canterbury Cup.

"Chiko hasn’t been able to play for the Sharks this year but he has played a lot of NRL and will be a great foil for Jake Turpin. We think he will come into our 17 and share that role with Jake while Macca is out,” Seibold said.

"Hopefully it is only six weeks that Macca is out but in the interim we thought we had to put some support around Jake and Cory Paix who warmed up with us tonight.

"[Segeyaro] is a spark out of dummy half and defensively aggressively. He has got a bit of personality about him.

"He’ll have to earn the trust of the group, myself and the coaching staff but talking to him this afternoon he is up for it. He tells me he has always wanted to play for the Broncos so we will give him the opportunity.”

The suspected serious knee injury suffered by Jack Bird in the win over Manly may open the door for NSW centre James Roberts to play next week against the Roosters after he was dropped for Friday night’s game.

Seibold said that as far as he was aware, Roberts intended to stay at Brisbane despite reports linking him to South Sydney and an imminent request for a release.

"Jimmy hasn’t come to see me and ask to speak to other clubs, but it is good we have got a quality replacement there in James,” he said.

“Jamayne Isaako didn’t play tonight either so we have got a couple of options. Jimmy trained well during the week in our renegades group, which is the guys that didn’t play tonight.

"Personally I haven’t had any feedback that Jimmy wants to leave but I understand there has been speculation around it.

“It is a good challenge for whoever plays at centre, whether it is Jimmy, Gehamat [Shibasaki] or Jamayne.

"What I want to do is have a look at the areas we can be better with and then pick a team on what we are confronting which is obviously Latrell Mitchell, who is the best left centre in the game."