North Queensland Cowboys prop Matt Scott set to start in Saturday's elimination final

COWBOYS prop Matt Scott appears a certain starter for Saturday's elimination final against the Cronulla Sharks.

COWBOYS prop Matt Scott has cleared the first hurdle in his battle with a broken finger.

Scott appears a certain starter for Saturday's elimination final against Cronulla after the front-row enforcer came through Thursday's training run in Townsville unscathed.

The inspirational co-captain completed the session without a painkilling injection, but could have a needle on Friday to decide whether it will help him on game day.

The inclusion of Scott would be a major boost for the Cowboys given he has been the side's most consistent forward this season, averaging 142 metres per game.

Cowboys high-performance chief Paul Bowman said club medicos were increasingly hopeful Scott would take his place alongside James Tamou, who plays his 100th top-grade game.

"It was a small step forward, (Scott) is pretty keen to play that's for sure," Bowman said.

"He will have to go through a fair bit of pain, but he went well (at training yesterday).

"Matty still has to check with the surgeon and see how he is (today) and Saturday, so we will have an extra player in Sydney just in case he pulls out.

"We have to make sure he gets the OK to play. We don't want him doing anything too serious.

"The medical staff wanted to see how he would go this morning without a needle to get through the session, which he did.

"We might look at trying an injection (today) to see what his feeling in the finger is like.

"We might have a trial run at it before we do it in the game.

“It's an area you can't numb too much, he just has to strap it to his other finger and see how it goes.’’

Meanwhile, Cowboys coach Neil Henry and football manager Peter Parr could be headed to Parramatta as a package deal next season.

Parr has held talks with Parramatta chairman Steve Sharp and is a front-runner for the vacant Eels CEO post, in which former Titans boss David May has also expressed interest.

Henry is expected to beat Jason Taylor to the post as Canberra-bound Ricky Stuart's coaching successor.

As the Cowboys’ recruitment chief, Parr has already played a pivotal role in preventing Cowboys props Scott and James Tamou from joining the Eels on big-money deals next season.