Cowboys medical staff have confirmed their worst fears from Saturday night's win over the Roosters with both Gavin Cooper and Cameron King unlikely to figure again in North Queesland's 2014 campaign.
King, who suffered a wretched run with injuries whilst at St George Illawarra, was playing just his second game for his new club when he ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee while attempting to make a tackle in the closing minutes of the comprehensive 42-10 win. He will definitely not play again for the Cowboys this season.
The news isn't quite so grim for Cooper who suffered a dislocated hip in the 53rd minute of the match which was put back into place in the players' tunnel after he left the field.
The best case scenario is a return to playing in 12 weeks' time but an exact date for his comeback won't be known for quite some time.
"There were no fractures and Gavin's hip is sitting where it should be,” Cowboys physiotherapist Steve Sartori told the Cowboys' website.
"He will have an MRI [on Monday] to look at the cartilage inside the joint and then ongoing scans over the next three months to check on the blood supply to his hip.
"The scans will be sent to a hip specialist in Brisbane."
The news is a major blow to coach Paul Green who has overseen consecutive victories over the Broncos and Roosters but will now be forced to take a severely depleted team to play the Raiders in Canberra next Sunday.
The Cowboys are likely to have Johnathan Thurston, Matt Scott, Brent Tate and James Tamou all unavailable due to State of Origin commitments while Tariq Sims remains an outside chance of a maiden Blues jersey.
Half Ray Thompson missed his second game in succession with a knee injury, Jason Taumalolo was ruled out with an ankle injury as was Curtis Rona, both of which are not believed to be serious.
