North Queensland stars Valentine Holmes and Jordan McLean are not expected to recover from ankle and calf injuries to face Newcastle in Round 7.
North Queensland face another week without those stars as pressure mounts on coach Paul Green and the Cowboys.
Saturday night’s 36-20 pounding by the Wests Tigers marked the Cowboys’ third straight loss, having now conceded 89 points in their past three games.
The first half, in particular, was woeful for the 2015 premiers, falling behind 34-0 at the break in their worst start to a game in 13 years.
Making matters worse for North Queensland is the absence of star fullback Holmes.
The Cowboys had initially hoped he would miss just one week with an ankle injury, but Green confirmed neither he or prop McLean (calf) would face Newcastle next week.
“They’ll probably be another week,” coach Paul Green said.
Playmaker and captain Michael Morgan is also still not expected to return until August, after undergoing a second operation on his shoulder following an infection.
North Queensland’s big loss came on the same day Stephen Kearney was sacked as Warriors coach.
Green is the most successful coach in Cowboys’ history, delivering them their first premiership and now contracted until the end of 2021.
But after two years out of the finals, he will need the Cowboys to catch some form fast to stop any further pressure from building.
The Cowboys have arguably the toughest run ahead of any team, with six straight games against top-eight teams.
They face Newcastle on Saturday night, followed by Parramatta, Sydney Roosters, Penrith, Manly and Canberra.
“I’m not worried about who we play,” Green said.
“People have said we have a hard run coming up but I would like to know when we get easy games.
“There aren’t any easy games and if you don’t turn up on any given day it doesn’t matter who you play, you won’t be in the contest.
“The first half, we weren’t in the contest. In the second half when we knuckled down we were in the contest.”
Asked how he would approach his assessment of the Tigers loss with his players, Green said: “I’ll just take the honest approach.
“We’ve got to look at the performance for what it is. There was some good stuff and some really, really bad stuff.
“We’ve got to the get to the bottom of why we’re getting the really bad stuff.”
Rob
Guest
There are easy games Paul, it’s when teams play the Cowboys you goose. Let’s be honest and say you have a lot of young players with limited NRL experience and combinations are changing weekly. This is on you Paul, because you have failed to move on players and bring in your young talent with any balance or foresight. Fensom, Hall, McGuire, Baptiste, Hannant, Barba, Kahu and holding onto Scott, Thurston, Bolton, Cooper while Kikau, B. Smith, Hamlin, Uele, Ponga, Horsburgh, Lowe, Tuala have gone out the door. The young talent hasn’t progressed under Green. Wright being dropped and Cooper coming back into the team says it all. I’m not sure Green is capable of developing young players. The Cowboys are and always will be development club with access to talented local youngsters looking for opportunity. Very different to Storm. They are not a club requiring ageing imports looking for a good payday at the end of their career. This is the bad old days of Ian Roberts, Steve Walters, Robert Relf, Tim Brasher, Noel Goldthorp, Brett Boyd type squad signings. Right now the club needs a coach that can develop young players and give them an opportunity. 32 is time to go and after 28 is not a time for bring players in at this club. Also there is a brand of football we should be playing? One out bash and crash is not what NQ kids play. It’s not our brand or style. Look at the history of players Morgan, Ponga, Bowen, Prince, Payne, Slater, Shearer, Julian O’Neil,Hodges, Sing, Sailor, Dallas (Rocky kids Hunt, Munster, Reece Weser) type backs and forwards like Scott, Johnson, Thaiday, Tallis, Miles, Myles, Dowling, Backo, Larson or Cunningham. Hard, tough forwards and fast slippery backs with skill full ball players. It’s why JT fitted in because we enjoy playing fast open football. Right now the team looks lost and disillusioned with playing Greens old tired structures and it certainly isn’t to the teams current strengths IMO. I’d love to get Brad Arthur back up to NQ now because he has certainly got the knowledge of how we play in the North. The Eels are doing it right now.