Melbourne Storm fullback Scott Drinkwater is closing in on a mid-season switch to North Queensland as the Cowboys face a backline injury crisis.
With Jordan Kahu (shoulder) unlikely to play in this weekend's NRL clash with Manly, Drinkwater may even debut for his new club on Saturday if a deal can be finalised in time.
Kahu hurt himself during last Sunday's 6-4 win over Gold Coast and coach Paul Green is awaiting scan results before finding out the full extent of the New Zealand international's injury.
He joins a lengthy injury list which includes former Queensland State of Origin centre Justin O'Neill (ruptured spleen), Te Maire Martin (brain bleed), Nene Macdonald (ankle) and winger Gideon Gela-Mosby (broken collarbone)
Drinkwater, 22, was a candidate to fill the Storm's No.1 jersey following Billy Slater's retirement but ruptured a pectoral muscle in a pre-season fixture against the Cowboys.
He returned last weekend in the Queensland Cup for Easts, having a hand in four tries as the Tigers claimed a 40-22 over Northern Pride.
Green said the Cowboys still have one spot to fill in their salary cap and admitted he was a fan of Drinkwater.
"He's a pretty good player yeah," Green said.
"He had a very good year at Q Cup last year ... he was probably one of the form players from that competition."
In other news, Green said O'Neill, who injured himself in the round 11 win over Canberra, remained in the nation's capital after surgery on his spleen but confirmed the 28-year-old had been discharged from hospital.
"He just needs to get a final review before he's allowed to come back," Green said.
"Given he can't really do too much in the short term, he'll probably go and spend some time with his family and then be back on deck not long after that."
