Nathan Friend back for Warriors in Cowboys crunch

NORTH Queensland will fear former Titans hooker Nathan Friend tomorrow at Mt Smart Stadium in a bad piece of timing for the finals-chasing Cowboys.

NORTH Queensland will fear former Titans hooker Nathan Friend tomorrow at Mt Smart Stadium in a bad piece of timing for the finals-chasing Cowboys.

Friend is back for the Warriors from a seven-week layoff with a broken jaw - and the timing could not be worse, according to Cowboys assistant coach Terry Matterson.

Cowboys coach Neil Henry will announce after training in Auckland today whether hooker Anthony Mitchell, who joined the club from the Roosters during the week, will be added to the bench.

With fullback Matt Bowen joining the Cowboys on their connecting flight from Brisbane to Auckland yesterday, Kalifa Faifai Loa will play on the wing.

Moses Pangai, added to an extended interchange bench, will likely be left out of the 17-man squad if Henry concludes Mitchell is ready to play for his new club.

Despite breaking his jaw in a round 9 clash with the Broncos, Friend completed the match with 53 tackles and set up two tries.

"Nathan Friend coming back makes a big difference. He's an out-and-out hooker - I think he's a rep hooker as well," Matterson said.

The Cowboys welcome back Bowen, cut from Queensland's extended squad on Thursday, to a side already weakened by representative duties.

The Cowboys are definitely without three Queensland Origin representatives, Johnathan Thurston, Brent Tate, Matt Scott and NSW prop James Tamou.

Michael Morgan takes over Thurston's five-eighth place, while Antonio Winterstein moves from the wing to centre to fill Tate's position.

Ashton Sims and Ricky Thorby in the frontrow will have to paper over the absence of Tamou and Scott.

North Queensland are hunting their second win in seven games in Auckland.

Canterbury's prolific contract negotiations continue to bubble on, with the Bulldogs picking up their fourth mid-season signing of the year in young Canberra utility back Drury Low.

Low, 22, made his debut for the Raiders in 2010.

The Bulldogs also have welcomed Mitch Brown, Krisnan Inu and Sam Perrett to their finals drive.