North Queensland play-making utility Ray Thompson will wait until late in the season before making a call on a degenerative knee injury that threatens his NRL career.
Thompson, who is only 27, has been the Cowboys' glue in the halves alongside Michael Morgan in recent weeks due to Johnathan Thurston's shoulder injury.
But he has battled his own problems, notably a right knee injury that saw him miss the first half of the season and prevents him from training early in the week.
Off contract at the end of the season, Thompson is unsure how his future will play out with his dodgy right knee and the Cowboys waiting on the finalisation of the salary cap.
"Everything is a bit up in the air," Thompson said.
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"It's all subject to how I feel at the end of the year, whether the Cowboys can keep me here and if my knee lets me play on."
Thompson has played 105 matches for the Cowboys since debuting in 2009, spread across as a starting half, hooker and off the bench.
He missed the first two months of this season because of his knee before coming straight back into first grade when Thurston was injured.
"It's a bit of everything, it's swelling and it's a bit of pain.
"The start of the week is fairly light as the knee settles down a bit. I don't do much until the end of the week to make sure it's right."
Coach Paul Green has also made the team's last-tackle options a significant focus heading into Saturday's home clash with the Gold Coast, after their second-half collapse to Cronulla a fortnight ago.
