Paul Green is at a loss to explain why Cowboys fullback Te Maire Martin has suffered a bleed on the brain after poring over footage of his recent matches.
Martin will sit out Friday night's Queensland derby against the Gold Coast in Townsville and has been ruled out indefinitely after being diagnosed with the injury this week.
Green has maintained regular contact with Martin and said the club has reviewed game footage looking for any signs of contact which could’ve led to the injury.
“He’s popular amongst the playing group so there's a fair bit of concern for him," Green said.
"We’re still getting to the bottom of exactly what caused it and how we're going to manage it. The club are supporting Te Maire and they all feel for him.
"We’ve been through the last few games and can't really see any big collisions. He hasn’t reported any HIA issues. Outside of that I'm not sure really what else we can do and there's other causes for it too so we're working through that.
“I've been in fairly regular contact with him and he’s going OK. The worst part is he gets some bad headaches and doesn't feel the best at times so at the moment it’s just about resting up.”
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Jason Taumalolo’s chances of coming back from a knee injury is looking positive with Green saying he completed most of this week's training sessions.
“He's probably a better chance than he was last week," Green said.
"The risk of further injuring it and being out for another extended period of time, we don’t want to take that risk when he’s so close to coming back."
With or without the 117kg Tongan international, Green said it’s an important game they need to focus on regardless of who’s in the team. Both sides enter the game with 2-5 records.
“We can't be looking over our shoulders and worrying who might be coming into the team," he said.
"The guys that have got the job this week, they've got to make sure that they turn up ready to go. We all do, we need to turn up and do our role.”
The fixture in Townsville will be commemorated with an Anzac tribute prior to kick-off.
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Asked if the players would feel a sense of extra importance due to the significance of the event, Green said “I think have we played this game at home last week it would’ve had more of an impact.
“We’re the biggest Garrison city in the country. I would really like to see games played here on Anzac Day.
“I know that we've got the traditional games, and I'm not saying that should change, but I think out of respect for the people of Townsville and the servicemen and women that live in Townsville, it would be a great thing for us to be able to play a home game here over that weekend."
