AAP: Cameron Laird
)North Queensland is expected to be without Jason Taumalolo until mid-April after he suffered a broken hand at training this morning.
The Cowboys confirmed Taumalolo would miss Saturday's match against St George Illawarra, although they are hopeful he will not be sidelined for more than a month.
The club is seeking further medical advice before deciding on what course of action they will take with their co-captain's recovery from the injury.
It is a massive blow to the Cowboys, who opened the season with a 24-0 loss to Penrith last Saturday night.
Taumalolo's performance in the loss to the Panthers was publicly questioned by new Cowboys coach Todd Payten, although the effort of the entire squad came under scrutiny.
The Cowboys struggled to get a hold of both their attacking and defensive schemes against the Panthers.
Their focus against the Dragons will be ball retention and unlocking their dynamic backline, particularly on the left edge where Valentine Holmes is paired with the exciting Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow.
Holmes said he was confident the Cowboys' attack would improve against the Dragons.
"Last week, we didn't get much good ball, even Hammer [Tabuai-Fidow] inside me is a very dangerous player with the ball and we couldn't really see too much of it in transition," he said.
"It's exciting playing outside him [Tabuai-Fidow], anytime he can find his way to the outside of a centre he's going to get me some good ball as he's pretty quick.
"You know we've only played one game, so we're not in a bad spot at the moment."
ABC/AAP
