Penrith will consider recalling Blaize Talagi in the fight to ignite their season as the shock loss to North Queensland forces more changes for the out-of-sorts NRL champions.
Five-eighth Jack Cole failed a head injury assessment late in Friday's 22-18 loss to the Cowboys after collecting Jordan McLean's leg to his head in a tackle.
Cole will miss Thursday's clash against the Dolphins in Brisbane, where the four-time reigning premiers will look to snap a four-game losing streak that has them languishing in the bottom four.
Cole's head knock could pave the way for young gun Talagi, who has been largely overlooked for game time since arriving from Parramatta this season.
Penrith's most-hyped external signing of their dynasty has played only one game from the bench through five rounds as Cleary has preferred Cole as his first-choice five-eighth.
Tom Jenkins and Casey McLean have earned starts in the outside backs over the versatile Talagi as well.
The coach even started Trent Toelau for the first time at NRL level rather than pick Talagi in the halves against South Sydney last weekend, and chose half Brad Schneider on his bench.
But with Toelau now injured, there could be room for both Schneider and Talagi in the 17 against the Dolphins given Cleary's long-standing preference for a bench utility.
"Yes, definitely. Potentially," coach Ivan Cleary said when asked whether Talagi was in the mix for a recall.
"We'll have 17 guys next week and we'll be going at it again."
Dylan Edwards' return from a groin injury next week will mean back-up fullback Daine Laurie is also competing for a spot on the Panthers' bench.
Four-time premiership-winning forward Scott Sorensen is expected to return from a head knock.
Mitch Kenny went off with a shoulder injury during the second half against the Cowboys, with the Panthers initially believing he suffered a stinger.
But the club now holds concern for Kenny and will send him for scans, despite the hooker returning to the game late in the second half.
"It was obviously bad enough for him to come off. There's obviously something there but he came back on so that was good news," Cleary said.
Three of the Panthers' four consecutive losses have been by six points or fewer, with Cleary confident his side was approaching a breakthrough win.
"We just need to play well enough to get one of these wins that I'm sure is not far away. Each and every game we could have won," he said.
"We're just finding ways not to. There's a bunch of things that we can control and things that I can control and I've got to make sure I'm working out what that is."
