"I'm sure he'll play if he'll get picked. Whatever pain he's got today will go away very quickly."

But the Kempsey-bred 25-year-old took an eternity to hobble around to the Brisbane bench, where his foot was immediately immersed in ice, giving Fittler an early headache as he prepares to reveal his squad.

By that stage, Queensland had already started their traditional ''star player races the clock'' story with news that Billy Slater was withdrawn from the Storm side against the Cowboys on Friday night with a hamstring concern.

It didn't take long for the Blues to hit back, with Roberts the second man to fall in a pre-Origin round that always tends to provide some late drama to the potential sides.

Brisbane were able to largely shrug off a week of intrigue around the future coaching arrangements as speculation swirled about whether Bennett would be replaced by Melbourne's Craig Bellamy next season.

It was Bennett's 800th game in the coach's box, a record unlikely to ever be surpassed, and as he's done so many times in the past, was able to pull his team together when the headlines were talking about everything bar their core job.

The Broncos surged to an early 12-0 lead and it looked as if it could a very long Thursday night for the Eels, who have now won only two of their 10 games this season.

They tried their hearts out, running with venom and intent, yet simply dropped too many balls at key times and don't have the composure around the halves to compete with the better sides.

George Jennings put them on the board via an intercept 10 minutes into the second half and they trailed 18-10 with five minutes to go when Bevan French looked to have scored in the corner.

Instead, Corey Norman was called back for a forward pass and any hope of a much-needed win went out the window. By the time the siren had sounded, a deflated Eels side looked spent, with bodies slumped to the turf all over the field.

Earlier in the night, Michael Jennings was another player to find himself in the sin bin but this time there could be no argument. He ankle-tapped Anthony Milford from an off-side position after a penalty and officials had little choice but to send him for a spell.

Brisbane are managing to win without a host of their best players. Matt Gillett, who has signed a new deal with the club until 2022, continues to be absent with a neck injury, while Josh McGuire (ankle) was close to playing but didn't suit up.

But there has been a massive silver lining for the Broncos, with young forward Tevita Pangai Jnr and Jayden Su'a superb over recent weeks as they step up to the plate.

Whether Bennett or Bellamy reaps the benefits of their rise remains to be seen.

BRISBANE 18 (J Isaako C Oates J Roberts tries J Isaako 3 goals) bt PARRAMATTA 10 (G Jennings try M Moses 3 goals) at Suncorp Stadium. Referees: Ashley Klein, Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski. Crowd: 21,555.