The Stat to Fix: Broncos' hunt for missing grunt

For much of their existence in the top flight, Brisbane have boasted some of the best metre-eaters in the game, with Shane Webcke and Petero Civoniceva among the truly elite props of the past twenty years.

But in 2017 the Broncos playing style told a deceptive story when it came to their front-rowers, with regular bookends Adam Blair and Korbin Sims averaging the least amount of combined running metres for a team's starting props.

Blair's average of 85 metres a game belied his ability to offload the ball, while Sims (77m per game) had his season interrupted by a broken arm.

In any case, Wayne Bennett has some new faces up front with Matt Lodge and Sam Tagataese coming into his front-row rotation for Blair (Warriors) and Herman Ese'ese (Newcastle).

But with Josh McGuire's high work rate at lock and Corey Oates eyeing a move into the back-row, Bennett says his front-rowers won't be pushed to churn out big running metres at the expense of creating second phase play.

"No we won't be looking to change that style, it's served us pretty well," Bennett told NRL.com.

"Running hard, passing at the line, offloading, it's worked well with our front-rowers and offers a point of difference up front."