Alarm bells are ringing at North Queensland ahead of Saturday night's NRL clash against the Dragons at Townsville - but that's a good thing.

Cowboys dangerman John Williams - better known as ex-Test flyer David's older brother - reckons he now sets two alarms before training to avoid repeating the most embarrassing moment of his fledgling career.

Williams is considered the man to watch against the Dragons after relishing a second chance following his sleep-in three weeks ago.

He was stood down by a less than impressed Cowboys coach Neil Henry after missing a training session entirely.

Coincidentally ex-Test enforcer Carl Webb was also dropped when he was 25 minutes late for the same session because his lift failed to arrive.

Both have plenty of reasons to impress against a Dragons side that is sweating on eight players backing up from rep duty in Friday night's Test and City-Country clashes.

Williams is champing at the bit to nail down his spot after finally winning over Henry again.

And Webb - who was playing Test football this time last year - was told to "step up" on Saturday night by Henry following a lacklustre start to the season.

"It was a silly mistake but I have put that behind me," Williams said of his sleep-in.

"I have learnt my lesson the hard way. It was pretty tough (in Queensland Cup) because the boys had a couple of (NRL) wins while I was out - to see them get on a roll like that was hard."

So what did you learn from the experience?

"How to set two alarm clocks," Williams laughed.

The Dragons (6-2 record, 2nd) are breathing fire under new coach Wayne Bennett but have their concerns due to rep duty and injury.

They have already lost Kiwi international Jeremy Smith (ankle) while Matt Cooper (hip) and Ben Hornby (thigh) both have a question mark over them.

History is also against St George-Illawarra - they have not won at Townsville since 2005.

The Cowboys (3-5; 11th) have pinpointed the next month as season defining - starting with the Dragons clash.

But Williams believes they could not have started their crucial run against a more ideal team.

"We've probably got them at the best time all year - we have to take our opportunities," he said.

"They have got players backing up, and there's the heat that we are used to, plus they are going to be a little bit fatigued."

Henry said the Dragons would feel the loss of Smith.

"He is very solid through the middle, offers a bit of aggression there, and their defensive efforts have been excellent so far this year and he is a big part of that," he said.

"But defensively they have been conceding 11 points a game so they are tough to get through.

"I am sure the players that come in, the same will be expected of them to do the same thing."

Meanwhile, Ben Harris (ribs) has been cut from an extended North Queensland bench and interchange candidate Steve Rapira (shoulder/groin/wrist) is in doubt.

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