THERE is a new hero in the Tamou house: two-year-old staffordshire terrier John Cena.

The dog, named after the superstar WWE wrestler, recently took on a brown snake in his family’s back yard, copping several strikes from the venomous snake.

John Cena won, but he will be nursing the effects of the bout for several weeks to come.

North Queensland Cowboys prop James Tamou was in New Zealand about to play for the Cowboys at the Auckland Nines when his wife, Brittney, called from Townsville.

“Brit wasn’t panicking but I knew she would be stressing with me away,” he said.

“You feel a bit helpless when you are that far away ... I still had to find a way to focus on the game.”

They were a bit shaken by the presence of the slippery intruder because their young sons Brooklyn, 2, and Barclay, nine months, often played in the back yard.

Brittney said the energetic staffie had been playing outside and would normally come running when she called him, taking a giant leap over the laundry pile. “He came in and his back legs were like jelly,” she said. “I thought he might have broken a leg.”

With her husband away, Brittney called on fellow footy WAG, neighbour and vet nurse Brooke Winterstein.

“Thankfully Brooke lives just a few doors down but between us we have five kids so she came over, dropped her kids off and took Cena to the JCU vet,” Brittney said.

“But there was no vet on duty so Brooke called a friend, Chris, and he treated Cena, saved his life.”

Brooke said the dog was still wagging his tail when she arrived but he obviously had problems with his hind legs.

“I thought it was a snake bite or heatstroke ... we have also had a few cases of tick paralysis at the shelter,” she said.

“That’s why I rang Chris.

‘‘It was after hours but I knew it was serious.”

Veterinarian Chris Pretorius of Kings Road Vet Surgery said it was “touch or go” for John Cena.

“I’m so glad he survived because he would have died without treatment,” he said.

“If a dog gets bitten by a brown snake they tend to suffer paralysis and then internal bleeding and seizures.

“It obviously depends on the amount and quality of venom, and the size of the dog and the snake, but I think John Cena would have been dead within a few hours without treatment.”

The Tamous said they had never seen a snake in their Kalynda Chase back yard ­before.

“The snake would have had to come through several properties to get to ours,” James said.

Brittney said John Cena had done his job. “He protected his family,” she said.