At 185cm and 109kg, Matt Scott doesn’t look like someone who needs support.

But North Queensland coach Neil Henry has called on his forward pack to lend the prop affectionately known as “Thumper” a hand in the Cowboys’ must-win NRL clash with Cronulla in Townsville on Sunday night as he recovers from his State of Origin heroics.

All three of the Cowboys’ Queensland contingent – Scott, Johnathan Thurston and Brent Tate – have been given the green light to run out against the Sharks after featuring in the Maroons’ series-levelling 26-6 win over NSW on Wednesday night.

Scott was a force to be reckoned with in Origin II, bouncing back from his underwhelming series opener to, at one stage, amass 98 metres and 12 tackles in a 30-minute burst.

When the dust settled on the four-tries-to one win, Scott had accrued a match-high 169m along with 23 tackles.

While glad Scott was back on board for the Cowboys’ crunch clash, Henry admitted the North Queensland bruiser would only get by with a little help from his friends on Sunday night.

“We expect our other players will take up the load for Scotty,” he said.

“Scott Bolton, Ashton Sims – those guys up front need to make sure they are doing their role.

“We don’t expect Matt to come out and play 60 minutes. He backs up well (from Origin) but he will be fatigued.”

However, Scott will no doubt be buoyed by the sight of fellow bookend James Tamou finally returning from a high level drink driving ban as the Cowboys (13th; 5-9 record) try to keep their finals hopes alive.

Of Tamou’s Origin prospects, Henry said: “I think he will want to make sure Laurie picks him for the right reasons, that he is playing good footy and he deserves to be in that team.”

North Queensland snapped a five-game losing run in their last start victory over the Dragons but don’t have to be told they must go on a winning streak in their final 10 games to jag a top eight finish.