The impressive NRL debut of Reece Walsh is small comfort for a Warriors side dealing with a mounting injury tally while preparing to face the resurgent Cowboys.
The New Zealand side's starting line-up in the heavy loss to Melbourne looked like it had been put together by Doctor Frankenstein with gun No.1 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck on the wing and back-rower Bayley Sironen in the halves.
Walsh was a standout in the 22-point drubbing, engineering a brace of late tries for winger Ken Maumalo, and this week he'll be closer to the action at No.6 with RTS reverting to fullback.
Todd Payten's men have won three on the bounce after a difficult opening month of the season, including a confidence-boosting victory in Canberra over recent grand finalists the Raiders last time out.
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The rundown
Team news
Warriors: David Fusitu'a is out of the side, with Edward Kosi (No.23) to make his NRL debut on the wing. Apart from that the side is 1-17 with Sean O'Sullivan the 18th man.
Josh Curran will take his place in the side after successfully arguing for a downgrade on a careless high tackle at the NRL judiciary on Tuesday. Tohu Harris and Adam Pompey return from injury.
Jack Murchie, Tom Ale and Taniela Otukolo dropped off the reserves list 24 hours before kick-off.
The Warriors have won three of their past four games against the Cowboys.
Cowboys: North Queensland will start 1-17 with Javid Bowen the 18th man.
Powerhouse forward Jason Taumalolo (hand) came through a contact session on Thursday and will return.
Tom Gilbert and Jake Clifford dropped off the reserves list on Saturday.
The Cowboys are aiming for four consecutive wins for the first time since 2017.
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Key match-up
Kodi Nikorima v Ben Hampton: Two of the competition's lower-profile No.7s continue to battle for acceptance as NRL playmakers. Nikorima has shouldered most of the burden of compensating for the early season loss of Chanel Harris-Tavita easier to absorb while Hampton is playing well for a team that's won three in a row.
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Stat attack
An 89 per cent completion rate last weekend really helped the Cowboys. And an impressive 147 run metres from bench forward Francis Molo provided a great boost during the middle stages of the match.
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