{"id":47828,"date":"2026-07-10T04:40:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T04:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/47828\/"},"modified":"2026-07-10T04:40:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T04:40:08","slug":"mixed-news-for-the-brisbane-broncos-as-origin-stars-return-set-to-hand-penrith-panthers-a-boost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/47828\/","title":{"rendered":"Mixed news for the Brisbane Broncos as Origin star’s return set to hand Penrith Panthers a boost"},"content":{"rendered":"

NSW Blues star Casey McLean<\/a> is set to make his return from injury next weekend against the desperate Brisbane Broncos<\/a> in a huge boost for the Panthers. McLean was set to start for the NSW Blues in Game 2 after Stephen Crichton withdrew from the squad.<\/p>\n

Although Casey McLean left training and was ruled out<\/a> for Game 2 with a quad injury. The 20-year-old hasn’t played since the injury in NSW camp with the Panthers enjoying a bye this round after a number of their stars played in the Origin decider.<\/p>\n

\"Michael<\/p>\n

The Brisbane Broncos are most likely going to see the return of Casey McLean for the Panthers in their Round 20 game next week. (Images: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

And in a big boost for coach Ivan Cleary and the team, reporter Peter Lang has claimed McLean is on track to return against the Broncos at CommBank Stadium next week. The Panthers should be welcoming back their Origin representatives and McLean, which is a massive setback for the Broncos.<\/p>\n

Michael Maguire’s side are desperate for a win having lost eight in a row. The Broncos probably need to win all eight of their final games to give themselves the opportunity to play NRL finals footy.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

McLean’s return makes it harder for the Broncos who will be desperate to come away with the win after their own bye this weekend. And the return of Reece Walsh, Payne Haas and Patrick Carrigan will be a big boost for the reigning champions as well.<\/p>\n

Reece Walsh and Patrick Carrigan to return<\/p>\n

Broncos fans have been disappointed across the last few weeks with Walsh watching on from the bench without getting game time in State of Origin Game 2. Carrigan never got a run in Game 3, leaving Broncos fans incensed that he wasn’t allowed to play last weekend for no reason.<\/p>\n

Queensland fans in general were also a bit confused that Billy Slater gave Trent Loiero 44 minutes and never used Carrigan. Walsh was also an unused interchange in Game 2 with Queensland running out 44-24 winners. Walsh made it onto the field in Game 3, but couldn’t ignite the comeback. The Broncos have struggled without their representative players in recent weeks and will welcome their return.<\/p>\n

Adam Reynolds, Walsh, Haas and Carrigan could all be back for the blockbuster game against the Panthers, which is a must-win for the defending premiers. Maguire will be desperate to get a win and ignite a similar comeback that saw the Broncos surge into the Top 8 last year and win the title.<\/p>\n

\"Reece<\/p>\n

The Broncos will be keen to welcome back Reece Walsh (pictured) for the game against the Panthers. (Photo by Matt King\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NSW Blues star Casey McLean is set to make his return from injury next weekend against the desperate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47829,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[99,637,644,2709,11377,695,35218,664,35217],"class_list":["post-47828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brisbane","tag-brisbane","tag-brisbane-broncos","tag-casey-mclean","tag-getty-images","tag-nsw-blues","tag-patrick-carrigan","tag-peter-lang","tag-reece-walsh","tag-the-panthers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}