Wallace up for Panthers battle

Peter Wallace insists Brisbane have a battle on their hands for a place in the finals when they face Penrith on Friday.

The Broncos sit precariously in eighth position in the NRL ladder and are level on points with Wests Tigers, who face Melbourne at home.

The Broncos’ match with the Panthers at Suncorp Stadium will also mark veteran forward Petero Civoniceva‘s final home match before his retirement.

The 36-year-old began his career with the Broncos in 1998 and aside from a four-season stint at Penrith, he has not appeared for any other NRL club.

Despite wanting to send the veteran forward out on a high, Wallace says the squad are focussed on cementing their place in the top eight.

“The difference this time nobody has really spoken about it being Petero’s last game or anything like that – the focus is on winning and making it to the finals,” Wallace told Brisbane’s official website.

The Broncos had little luck in attack against a staunch Manly defence in last week’s defeat, with forward Alex Glenn crossing scoring their solitary try late on.

“Even though we didn’t score too many points last week against Manly, we didn’t get a lot of opportunity to score either,” said Wallace.

“We spent most of the night coming out of our own end.

“We will be working very hard as a team to turn the attack into points this week against Penrith.”

“If we can get to our kicks at the end of good strong sets and compete a bit better for the full game, we will play very well as a team this Friday.”