Sidelined once again, Luke O'Donnell has been reminded by the North Queensland Cowboys of the loyalty they have shown him as the injury and suspension-plagued forward weighs up his NRL future.

O'Donnell finds himself with some spare time to consider rival offers after being slapped with his second three-week ban in 2010 following his Origin II brain explosion.

The latest suspension came from his 12th charge in 11 years.

The 29-year-old is also no stranger to injury, ensuring he has only played 163 games since his first-grade debut in 1999.

Yet O'Donnell is still very much in demand, with Newcastle and the Sharks the latest to be linked to the bruising backrower.

Cowboys boss Peter Parr said the club had tabled an offer to O'Donnell and were hopeful of a decision "in the near future".

In the meantime, Parr wanted O'Donnell to remember the faith they had shown him when the Cowboys snapped him up in 2004 with his career at a "crossroads".

O'Donnell has gone on to play 11 Tests for Australia as well as five Origins for NSW - including his now infamous game-two performance in Brisbane.

"No doubt he came to the club (from Wests Tigers) with his career at somewhat of a crossroads and I think we helped turn him into a rep player," Parr told AAP.

"But I think the person most to do with him becoming a rep player is Luke.

"I would expect he would take a lot into consideration including what we mean to him when he makes his decision (about his future)."

Parr said the Cowboys also backed him when they re-signed the enforcer as he recovered from an horrific 2007 "wishbone" tackle that sidelined him for 10 months.

"I would expect that when he is making his decision that he takes into account what the club has done for him and the loyalty that the club has shown him," he said.

"Particularly when he had his bad leg injury and we signed him last time and things were uncertain.

"He has played his best footy here and we have been very loyal to him over a long period of time.

"But Luke has been very good for this club too.

"While he has missed a lot of football particularly over the last four-and-a-half years, every time he has played he has been one of our most consistent players.

"(But) taking into account how much football he has missed we would hope there is some loyalty factor (when he considers his future)."

While frustrated over O'Donnell's latest suspension, Parr said the Cowboy's actions appeared to attract more publicity than others, citing his Origin II spear tackle on Darius Boyd.

"Two weeks later (Dragons forward) Michael Weyman makes a tackle that is deemed to be of a higher grading by the judiciary yet doesn't receive anywhere near the publicity," he said.

"I am not condoning either tackle, but that is an example of some of the publicity that Luke attracts compared to other players."

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