Manly Sea Eagles suffered a double blow as Daly Cherry-Evans was hurt in their 30-12 defeat to North Queensland that left their finals hopes hanging by a thread.
It will be the first time in over a decade that the Sea Eagles have missed out on the top eight, unless they can win all their remaining seven games. Cherry-Evans scored their first try of the game at Brookvale Oval but aggravated a shoulder problem in attempting a tackle on Gavin Cooper and didn't return after half-time.
The halfback is in doubt for Manly's game against New Zealand Warriors, with the club awaiting results of a scan ahead of their flight to Auckland on Thursday.
Coach Geoff Toovey said: "It was a concern (the shoulder complaint), so we took him off to make sure he was OK. He's a real tough character and I don't think he wants to miss any football. I'm pretty sure he'll do whatever he can to be there."
The win was the Cowboys' eighth in a row away from home and cements their place in the top two. North Queensland are 4.50 to win the premiership.
They took an early lead through the first of Antonio Winterstein's two tries, and outscored the home side five tries to two.
It came on Cooper's 200th NRL appearance, and Lachlan Coote was delighted to help his team-mate celebrate the milestone, saying: "It's a massive achievement for Coops, having him in our side is unreal. He's a player that you want to play for."
Winterstein completed his double before the interval while Michael Morgan scored one and set up another try in the second half. But North Queensland lost prop Matt Scott early in the second half due to a knee injury.
The Cowboys are 1.82 conceding an 18.5-point start in their next game against Parramatta Eels.
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