The star centre crossed for a double in the Broncos' 37-18 win but left the game with four minutes to play.

Scans then revealed damage to the medial collateral ligament, meaning he would be extremely unlikely to return before the end of the regular season.

Given the Broncos are already out of finals contention, there would be very little to gain in him returning in 2021.

"Kotoni has a high-grade MCL injury after suffering an impact to the knee in a tackle in the second half," Broncos head of performance Dave Ballard said

"He is unlikely to return to play for the remainder of the season.

"It's the same knee that he injured last year but it's important to be clear that his ACL is fine and the injury is localised to his MCL.

"We expect it to be a straight-forward recovery over coming weeks and Kotoni is keen to get into his rehab as soon as be can."

Staggs missed the first 13 rounds of this season after an ACL injury suffered in September last year.

In June he was suspended for two games for an off-field incident, returning for one week before being sidelined againn this time with a hamstring injury.

His latest problem means he will finish the season with just four games.

Meanwhile, Broncos hooker Jake Turpin will miss some football after suffering a high ankle sprain.

Brisbane do, however, expect him to return at some point this year.

Australian Associated Press