Thurston speaks about the severity of his injured hamstring

Michael Oxford

Thurston speaks about the severity of his injured hamstring image

Johnathan Thurston sent shockwaves through the North Queensland camp after limping off with a hamstring injury during Thursday night's 36-0 thrashing of the Bulldogs at 1300 SMILES Stadium.

MORE: Five things we learned: Cowboys v Bulldogs

The four-time Dally M medallist appeared to injure his left hamstring during a failed conversion attempt early in the second half, before sitting out the rest of the match with ice strapped to his upper leg.

Reports suggest the injury consisted of a low-grade tear but Thurston played down the severity of the injury post-match, with the Cowboys facing a top-of-the-table battle against Melbourne Storm at home next weekend.

"It’s not too bad," Thurston told Channel Nine.

"It’s more precautionary. I felt a bit of a twinge when I put a grubber through and went to accelerate.

"It’s nothing major. (They’ve wrapped me in) cotton wool. I should be sweet (to face Melbourne)."

The Cowboys have battled to two defeats without Thurston and their other Origin players this season but coach Paul Green indicated the club would play it safe with their star playmaker.

"It’s not too bad as far as hamstrings go," Green said.

"We’ll get a scan (today) and deal with it from there.

"We won’t be taking any unnecessary risks with him at this stage of the year."

Michael Oxford