The North Queensland Cowboys will be without Tariq Sims for the remainder of the 2011 NRL season after the explosive second rower broke his leg in Saturday night's victory against Cronulla.

But coach Neil Henry may already have another option to fill Sims' boots in the form of "player of the future" Jason Taumalolo.

Sims was left sobbing in pain after Anthony Tupou fell onto his leg in a tackle two metres out from the Sharks' tryline.

X-rays on Sunday confirmed he'd broken his tibia and fibula and while he'll avoid surgery he is expected to be in plaster for around two months and miss the first two weeks of pre-season.

In stepped 18-year-old Auckland-born Taumalolo, who bagged his first two NRL tries and made 125 metres (fourth most for a Cowboy on the night) from 11 runs during 33 minutes on the field.

"He's (Sims) been tremendous and if that's the prognosis then that's shattering for us and for him," Henry said.

"But you look at the flipside of that, Jason Taumalolo got two tries, powerful runner of the ball, great kid and the future here.

"He stepped up and was very strong out there."

The victory against the Sharks was Taumalolo's third NRL match and Henry said he was still coming to terms with the higher pace of first grade football.

"Jason's always been very powerful in the NYC competition, his running metres are enormous but I suppose it's the pace of the game.

"Any rookie who comes in struggles with the pace of the game especially defensively.

"I don't think he's got any problems with his attack and he's been training with us in the fulltime squad ... and I think he's certainly stepped up and done a good job."

This inexperience at NRL level may see him take a back seat to more established backrowers Ashton Sims, Leeson Ah Mau or Scott Bolton with Joel Reithmuller or Cory Paterson still available to step in.

"We've still got Ashton Sims, he's just resting a bit of a knee injury, I thought Scott Bolton did a lot of work out there, Leeson Ah Mau's been very good in the Queensland Cup team as well as playing a lot of first grade this year, so we're not devoid of options there in the back row," Henry said.

"There's enough depth in the club, we'll miss Tariq for sure but Jason's proved he's certainly a player of the future at our club."

Sims has been a revelation for the Cowboys in his debut NRL season and is amongst the favourites to collect the Rookie of the Year award as well as being on the radar for a shock Kangaroos Four Nations call up.

Co-captain Johnathan Thurston said the loss of Sims would be a big blow as the Cowboys go hunting for a top-four finish with a victory against the New Zealand Warriors.

"He's been great for the club. He's certainly got a lot of confidence throughout year and it's certainly shattering."

Sims was taken to hospital on Saturday night and is expected to stay there until Tuesday.

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