Brisbane coach Ivan Henjak is hoping some inspirational stories from Vietnam war veterans can inspire his charges ahead of Friday's crucial NRL clash against the Warriors in Auckland.

Broncos players listened to stories from veterans of the Battle of Long Tan during a two-day camp on the Sunshine Coast this week and Henjak is hoping it will prove inspirational as the Broncos battle to stay in the top eight.

"It was a chance to get away from Brisbane in a new environment and re-focus on footy, spend some time together and freshen up," Henjak said before the team jetted out to Auckland.

"We had a good talk from soldiers from Long Tan and that was really good.

"It sent some really good messages and hopefully we can instil some of that in our game on Friday night.

Henjak said his players need to "toughen up" or risk missing out on finals football for the first time in 19 seasons.

"We really need to tough up," said Henjak.

"The last two weeks we've been disappointed with our resolve to stay in the battle.

"This is a really good opportunity for us in a hostile environment against a really physical team to stand up and be counted.

"We need to do that if we're going to be any show of being in the eight and making an impact, we need to show it on Friday night.

Henjak dismissed speculation from former Bronco Brent Tate that Lockyer would be a shock starter.

"He's nowhere near right yet," said Henjak of his star player.

"We'll have a good look at him again next week (before the Canberra game) but there's no guarantees there.

"His health is going to come first with this one and if he's not right, we won't be risking him."

Henjak admitted Brisbane needed to silence those claiming the Broncos could not win without Lockyer just to get that monkey off their backs.

"There's so many people saying we can't win without Darren, although I don't believe that and the players don't believe it," he said.

"But when you hear it so many times it starts playing on people's minds.

"We've got to get that out of our heads and put in a really good performance and put those beliefs to bed."

Henjak was confident young winger Jharal Yow Yeh could bounce back from his horror game against Newcastle's Cooper Vuna who scored four tries on him last weekend, to play well against Warriors giant Manu Vatuvei.

"You can't stop Manu but if our forwards can do well in the middle, it limits his chances," said Henjak.

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