North Queensland have been dealt a blow with monster forward Jason Taumalolo ruled out of their clash with Cronulla with a minor knee injury.

Taumalolo played through pain in the second half of the Cowboys win over the Gold Coast last weekend, and scans have revealed some bone bruising.

Cowboys coach Paul Green is hopeful his star forward will miss just the one week, with Josh McGuire to shift to lock and Gavin Cooper coming back into the team.

His absence could be crucial to the Cowboys, given they have won just one of seven without their forwards leader in the past two years.

“Hopefully (it will only be one week out), but we will monitor it,” Green said.

“Sometimes (with) bone bruising you don’t know how long it will take to actually get better but fingers crossed it will only be a week

“Everyone has to (step up), particularly when you lose a good player like Jase.

“Everyone else has to do that little bit more, I am confident that we will.”

Meanwhile the Sharks will be without halfback Chad Townsend, who has succumbed to a hamstring injury and ended a streak of 107 straight matches.

Matt Moylan will play five-eighth, confident he is ready to get through 80 minutes after coming back from injury on the bench last week.

The Sharks star last played No.6 for Cronulla in 2018, before Shaun Johnson’s arrival at the club as part of an on-again, off-again experiment.

“I feel pretty confident. I have worked hard on getting my hammy and calf under control,” Moylan said.

“I feel like I have done that and got enough training into it.

“But the only way to know for sure is to go out there and put a performance in.”

Elsewhere, Mitchell Pearce has recovered from a concussion to be named at halfback for Newcastle, who will also welcome Kalyn Ponga back from suspension.

Andrew McCullough will also come into the team to start at No.9 for the clash with Canberra.

The Raiders meanwhile will again be without John Bateman, who has failed to overcome a shoulder injury to play in the match.

And Canterbury have named Kieran Foran to return at halfback for their crucial clash with St George Illawarra, who have moved Corey Norman to fullback and debuted Adam Clune in the halves.