THE Townsville Blackhawks went within a conversion of claiming a stunning upset over the NRL premiers on Thursday night, but they could be left to count the cost after three players went down with injuries.

The Blackhawks pushed the North Queensland Cowboys until the final siren in their 18-16 defeat at Jack Manski Oval and they had to do it without the benefit of resting players.

Mosese Pangai (ribs), Michael Parker-Walshe (shoulder), and Temone Power (unconfirmed) all went down with injuries while Kyle Laybutt and Sam Hoare only played the first half for the Blackhawks before suiting up for the Cowboys after the break.

Coach Kristian Woolf even had to resort to pulling Conor Carey out of the crowd to have 17 fit players to finish out the game, but the tenacious Blackhawks never looked outclassed by their NRL counterparts.

The Blackhawks conceded the opening try to Justin O’Neill after just 90 seconds, but they soon hit the front after two superb tries.

Parker-Walshe produced a brilliant cut out ball for winger Johnathon Ruben to score in the corner before Pangai brushed off two defenders for a barnstorming try.

Michael Morgan and Gavin Cooper hit back for the Cowboys to lead 18-10 at halftime, but they couldn’t crack the line in the second half, with Blackhawks Rhyse Martin scoring the only try in the final minute.

Woolf said he was delighted with his team’s determination, especially in defence, against the star-studded Cowboys line-up which featured 16 of the starting 17 from the grand final.

“The really pleasing thing was that nothing seemed to rattle us,” Woolf said.

“We had a bit of adversity there just in terms of having a couple of guys who started with us and then changed teams. That throws you out of whack a little bit and we also copped a couple of injuries.

“We ended up having to drag Conor Carey out of the crowd actually which I didn’t think I’d ever have to do at this level just through injury.

“We defended really well and worked for each other really well. That’s definitely confidence building and something you can build your season on. If you can defend your line and you’re hard to score on then you’re a chance in every game.”

The mounting injury toll creates a serious headache for Woolf with captain Dan Beasley, Neville Costigan, and Hezron Murgha already on the injured list, but the coach was confident it won’t derail the Blackhawks’ hopes of making a second-straight ISC grand final.

“If you go into round one without trials, you’re certainly going to put yourself on the backburner, but at the same time you do run that risk (of injuries) and unfortunately we’ve copped a couple,” he said.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been through a pre-season where I’ve copped four blokes like that who are all then at a risk of not playing round on, but it doesn’t change our plans in terms of how successful we want to be this season.”