Melbourne are set for another change to their back-line with linchpin Nick Meaney ruled out of their NRL clash against North Queensland as they look to bounce back from their first defeat of the season.
Meaney suffered a heavy knock early in the Storm's 18-14 loss to Brisbane last round and while he played out the match, was relieved of the goal-kicking duties with skipper Harry Grant taking over.
With "general back soreness" the 28-year-old was left out of the trip north to Townsville for Saturday night's meeting at Queensland Country Bank Stadium.
His absence provides an opportunity for youngster Siulagi Tuimalatu-Brown to start on the wing, where former centre Meaney shifted early this season to cover for the injury-enforced loss of high flyer Xavier Coates.
Coincidentally Tuimalatu-Brown made his NRL debut, and first start, as a late injury replacement against the Cowboys in round 18 last year at the same venue.
The 22-year-old Melbourne product also came on for three minutes against the Broncos last round for his second appearance.
Coach Craig Bellamy said he would make a final decision on his line-up after their Townsville training session.
Former Raiders centre Manaia Waitere is also an option, although his Storm debut would more likely come from the bench.
"He'll definitely be in our 19, so it'll be a debut for him if he gets on," said coach Bellamy said.
"You'd love to see him make his debut for us tomorrow, but it'll be how the game goes and what we think is the right thing to do with the interchange."
The Storm took a 14-0 lead into halftime against the Broncos but were over-run in the second half, with the match following a similar pattern to their grand final loss when they also held a commanding advantage.
"We started our second half really poorly and it's disappointing," Bellamy said.
"It was only a carbon copy of the grand final, to be quite honest, so obviously we didn't learn from that - hopefully we'll learn from it this time.
"You know, you just can't play 40 (minutes) and then sort of expect your teammates to do your job for you - you've got to do your job for 80 minutes and that has basically been our message."
The Cowboys claimed their first win of the year last week by posting a comfortable triumph over Gold Coast, with ex-Melbourne fullback Scott Drinkwater as well as representative halfback Tom Dearden starring in attack.
Zac Laybutt is the new face in the line-up, replacing centre Tom Chester, who is serving a one-match ban.
