Cowboys injury crisis hits alarming proportions with six stars under fitness clouds for Cronulla clash

WITH six of their stars in doubt for Saturday’s clash with Cronulla, it is likely the Cowboys will have to call on second-tier players again given the club’s injury list.

Justin O'Neill is helped from the field after injurying his elbow against Penrith.

COWBOYS star Justin O’Neill is expected to learn his fate on Tuesday morning, with the centre’s season in doubt after he suffered a dislocated elbow in last Saturday’s loss to Penrith.

News Corp Australia understands O’Neill was due to get his results on his elbow on Tuesday, after Lachlan Coote (ankle) and Shaun Fensom (knee) took priority for the medical team on Monday.

Both are in doubt for Saturday’s must-win clash with Cronulla while O’Neill is expected to be sidelined for four to six weeks.

Justin O'Neill is helped from the field after injurying his elbow against Penrith.

The expected losses of Coote and Fensom for this weekend will hit the Cowboys hard given Gavin Cooper (calf) and Antonio Winterstein (hamstring) are also likely to miss the clash, while Te Maire Martin (knee) is also racing to prove his fitness.

Coach Paul Green indicated that the club may have to appeal to the NRL for special dispensation for their second-tier salary cap.

The eighth-placed Cowboys have used 30 players this year and blooded five debutants.

With six of their stars in doubt for Saturday, it is likely they will have to call on second-tier players again given the club’s injury list is already lengthy.

Star forward Jason Taumalolo said the key for the club, however, is just to remain positive, even if their finals hopes are in jeopardy.

He said while it was tough to see a lot of his fellow forwards playing out of position last Saturday to cover for the team’s injuries, it just proved the determination the side have to succeed.

Paul Green has plenty of problems to wade through ahead of the Sharks clash.

“The majority of the boys have been playing alongside each other for a while and that bond from off the field definitely showed on the field (on Saturday),” he said.

“It was a show of true character from the boys.

“It’s not a sight I want to see, having a front-rower playing in the halves and a couple of other forwards in the outside backs. But I was proud of the way the boys played.

“Hopefully we can just do our best.”

Originally published as Cowboys injury crisis hits alarming proportions with six stars under fitness clouds for Cronulla clash