THE Cowboys season is all but over, after they were beaten by the Warriors 23-16 and Michael Morgan’s Origin hopes are in doubt, after he went off injured in the first half.

The Maroons fullback from Game I, went off in the 28th minute and with Billy Slater out of the Storm’s clash with the Knights on Sunday, Kalyn Ponga is surely the favourite for the Maroons No.1 jersey for Origin II.

Morgan suffered a possible bicep tear, when he thrust his arm out trying to tackle a flying

Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, who went on to score.

Round 20

“I think it’s a bicep,” Cowboys coach Paul Green said post match.

“I don’t know how bad it is yet, but he will go for scans.”

MATCH CENTRE: Cowboys v Warriors

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“He suffered the injury in the tackle of Tuivasa-Sheck and reports suggest it is a bicep tear, so a massive blow for him and the Cowboys and potentially Queensland,” Fox League’s Matt Shirvington said at halftime.

“When you see those type of injuries you could be out for a long time,” Justin Hodges added.

“If he needs an operation then he is looking at about six months out of the game.

“Some players like Brett Kimmorley had that injury and played week to week, which you can, but there is not as much strength there,” Fox League’s Mark Gasnier explained.

“Braith Anasta had one in 2014 and got the operation and it is a six-month period of recovery, so ultimately it is Michael Morgan’s choice if the diagnosis is correct, but carrying that into an Origin is another matter altogether.”

For the Warriors, you would never suspect Roger Tuivasa-Sheck was returning from an ankle injury, as he torched the Cowboys, with some of his trademark footwork.

The Warriors skipper finished with 143 run metres, three tackle busts, one linebreak, two linebreak assists, two try assists and one of the long range individual tries of the season.

Tuivasa-Sheck also produced the match winning defensive play of the game, when he grounded a Thurston grubber in the 73rd minute, to deny Ben Hampton a try.

The Cowboys were trailing 22-16 at the time and a try under the posts would have given Thurston the chance to lock up the scores.

Kyle Feldt was impressive for the Cowboys after filling in at fullback, when Morgan and then Ben Hampton went off with first half injuries.

The Cowboys flyer had 158 run metres, five tackle busts, an offload, a linebreak, a linebreak assist, a try assist and a classy double.

However Feldt inexplicably gave away a crucial penalty for dissent, when the Cowboys were coming back and the home side never recovered from the momentum swing.

Jason Taumalolo was a collosus for the home side, running for a whopping 213 metres, to go with six tackle busts, two offloads and 29 tackles.

The Cowboys had all the ball in the second half, but they struggled to find the killer blow and the Warriors showed real steel to hold on after making 40 more tackles.

The Report

Warriors hooker Issac Luke gave away an early penalty, to give Johnathan Thurston the chance to open the scoring.

Johnathan Thurston joined Hasem El Masri, Andrew Johns and Cameron Smith as the only players with 2100 points for one club in the NRL, when he kicked the penalty goal to make it 2-0.

The Warriors hit back, with a try to Ken Maumalo, who dived over in the corner, after Gerard Beale was tackled within inches of scoring on the other wing the play before.

Shaun Johnson slotted the sideline conversion to give the visitors a handy 6-0 lead after 20 minutes.

Warriors skipper Roger Tuivasa-Sheck then broke the game open, beating two Cowboys defenders all ends up in a 60 metre run to the line.

Showing no ill-effects from the ankle injury that had kept him out for a fortnight, the Warriors fullback stepped through the line, before making Michael Morgan look silly with some scintillating footwork, to hand his side a 12-2 lead.

Michael Morgan went off in the 28th minute with an injury, throwing the Cowboys and the Maroons into disarray.

The Warriors took full advantage, with Solomone Kata producing a barnstorming run, to dot down for his fifth try of the season.

Johnson made it three goals from as many attempts, to push the Warriors out to an 18-2 lead.

Just when the game threatened to turn into a bloodbath, Kyle Feldt produced a pinpoint cut-out for Javid Bowen to dive over in the corner.

Thurston kicked the sideline conversion to narrow the gap to 18-8, heading into the halftime break.

The Cowboys started the second half the same way they finished the first and scored the first try to Feldt, to narrow the gap to 18-12.

Johnson pushed the Warriors out to an eight-point lead, with a penalty goal moments later.

Kata then looked certain to score his second, but spilt the pass, with the line wide open and to make matters worse he suffered a game ending hamstring injury in the process.

Peta Hiku was then penalised for a lifting tackle on Feldt that could find him in trouble from the match review committee.

Despite their injury concerns the Cowboys were having the better second half.

Te Maire Martin cut through a gap and raced 40 metres, before producing a perfectly weighted cut-out pass, to put Feldt over for his second of the night.

Thurston missed his second goal on the trot to leave the score at 20-16, heading into the last 15 minutes.

Thurston then looked to have scored a try to level the scores, but it was ruled no try by the bunker, for a knock on to Jason Taumalolo in the lead up.

Feldt went from hero to villain, when he was penalised for dissent and Johnson kicked the Warriors out to a six-point lead.

The Cowboys had all the ball in the closing stages, but couldn’t find the try line and Johnson iced the game with a field goal to give the Warriors their 10th win of the season.

Warriors 23 (Maumalo, Tuivasa-Sheck, Kata tries; Johnson 5 goals, 1 field goal) def. Cowboys 16 (Feldt 2, Bowen tries; Thurston 2 goals)