League: Cowboys captain to miss Auckland trip

North Queensland captain Travis Norton will miss Sunday's National Rugby League trip to Auckland and may miss up to three months if his arm injury requires surgery.

Norton sees a specialist in Brisbane tomorrow for a second opinion on a torn bicep muscle and has been booked for surgery on Thursday as a precaution.

The back rower suffered the injury during the Cowboys' stunning 24-12 victory over the Bulldogs on Friday night and feared the worst after an initial diagnosis by team doctor John Maguire.

"I'm not getting my hopes up yet because I've had my hopes up before and it's been bad," Norton said.

"I had to have some more scans done but with the first ones, he (Dr Maguire) said he thinks I might need an operation but he said it's not his field of expertise."

Norton suffered a similar injury when playing for the Bulldogs several years ago.

"(Last time) I heard this loud snap, this loud pop, but this time I didn't," he said.

The best-case scenario would rule Norton out of the club's next two games against the Warriors in at Ericsson Stadium on Sunday and Newcastle at home.

The Cowboys back row stocks are expected to be boosted by the return of Luke O'Donnell (broken hand) for the trip across the Tasman.

Meanwhile, the Cowboys remain confident fullback Matt Bowen would remain with the club as negotiations with his manager continue.

"Matthew wants to make sure he starts the season playing some good footy and whilst we're continuing to talk, there's still plenty of time before the June 30 anti-tampering deadline," Cowboys football manager Peter Parr said.

- NZPA