North Queensland have ruled out any off-season panic buying despite veteran prop Ben Hannant's retirement further draining their NRL forward depth.
Two-time premiership winner Hannant, 31, confirmed on Thursday that he would draw the curtain on his 12-season NRL career due to a chronic knee injury.
Hannant's retirement is a further blow to a Cowboys pack already hard hit by the departure of Test prop James Tamou to Penrith.
But Cowboys coach Paul Green said he would see who became available on the player market but there were no alarm bells ringing.
"We will look to fill a front row position with Ben making the decision to retire, but I am pretty comfortable with where we are at," he said.
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"We are in a good position in that we have got spots on our roster and money in our cap.
"Historically there are always guys who come onto the market between now and season kick-off ...and cash is king - but I am very comfortable with the squad."
Green said he would look for Sam Hoare and Patrick Kaufusi to step up in bench forward Hannant's absence.
"I didn't want to rush into any decision for that position (prop) because we have got some good young guys coming through," he said.
"Foos (Kaufusi) has a taste for it now, Hoare was going well until he got injured last year and I don't want to roadblock those guys.
"But in saying that we will look at anyone who becomes available."
News broke this week that Hannant had told Cowboys players on Tuesday night that he would retire due to injury.
The announcement came barely three weeks after Hannant had signed a 12-month contract extension.
Hannant said on Thursday that he made the tough decision after off-season knee surgery.
"After my latest surgery, I was spending a lot of time wondering if I could go around for another year rather than knowing that I could, and that was a big thing for me," he said.
"I've always given 100 per cent and I didn't want to let my teammates down during the season.
"Also, family considerations were a big part of the decision - I want to be running around with my kids as they grow up."
Hannant played 245 NRL games, 12 State of Origins for Queensland and six Tests for Australia.
He will pursue a media career.
