In-form Warriors prop and NSW Blues hopeful Jackson Ford has suffered a crushing blow, forced off with a pectoral injury on Sunday.
Ford, who was sitting near the top of the Dally M leaderboard before voting went behind closed doors, has been one of the Warriors’ best performers this season.
Jackson Ford leaves the field clutching at his pec. Fox League
The 28-year-old was considered incredibly unlucky to miss out on a spot in Laurie Daley’s team for the first two State of Origin matches.
With spots up for grabs heading into the decider next month, Ford remained a live chance of making his Origin debut before disaster struck against the Cowboys.
Mid-way through the opening half in the first NRL match at One NZ Stadium in Christchurch, the workhorse front-rower got his arm caught awkwardly while making a tackle and immediately clutched at his shoulder.
Ford signalled to the Warriors bench that he needed to come off and ran off behind the goalposts, heading straight up the tunnel.
“He’s gone, what a shame – he’s had a wonderful start to the season,” Steve Roach said on Fox League commentary.
It was soon confirmed by sideline commentator Niko Pajarillo that it was a pec concern and Ford would not return against North Queensland.
Warriors winger Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad grabbed an early double at the state-of-the-art indoor stadium, before the Cowboys bounced back thanks to Scott Drinkwater, who set up a try for Braidon Burns before scoring one of his own.
Nicoll-Klokstad completed a first-half hat-trick before the break to give the home side the narrow lead heading towards the break and almost had a fourth try, but it was overruled for a forward pass in the lead-up.