Penrith have overcome the loss of playmaker Craig Gower to end their five-game losing streak with a 22-12 NRL victory over North Queensland at Dairy Farmers Stadium.

The Panthers lost Gower midway through the first half with a hamstring injury in a major setback to the incumbent NSW halfback as he battles Cronulla's Brett Kimmorley, Manly's Matt Orford and Newcastle's Jarrod Mullen for the Blues' No.7 jersey.

Penrith scored four tries to two to inflict only the third defeat of the season on the Cowboys.

Panthers coach Matt Elliott said Gower's injury was unlikely to rule his halfback out of the Origin series beginning on May 23.

"It's not a serious hamstring injury like they originally thought," Elliott said.

"But they will assess it over the next 24 hours and I wouldn't imagine it will keep him out for an extended period."

But it was the performance of his side without Gower which most impressed the coach.

"It was difficult losing Craig, and when we lost our general we lost some on-field composure but (five-eighth) Pete Wallace did a great job," Elliott said.

"I am so impressed with the fight that they showed for each other."

Despite Gower's absence, Penrith were still able to put two first-half tries on the board through forwards Frank Pritchard and Joel Clinton and led 10-0 at the break.

Clinton's effort was one of the few spectacular things to happen in a scrappy game, his athletic pick-up on the fly from a Peter Wallace kick belying the fact he is a front-row forward and one of the biggest players in the NRL.

A try to prop Brendan Worth in the 62nd minute took the visitors out to an 18-0 lead before the Cowboys hit back with a clever kick from Johnathan Thurston that found a flying Ben Anderson.

But a four-pointer to Panthers winger Luke Lewis was enough to seal the game in the 67th minute before Cowboys forward Scott Bolton scored a late consolation try.

The Cowboys now sit on a dangerous knife-edge, with the loss of several players and coach Graham Murray to Origin expected to provide plenty of hurdles in the coming rounds.

"I thought our defence was pretty good in the first half, but we just turned the ball over in collisions and didn't find touch on a kick when we were under the pump so all those things take their toll," Thurston said.

He said complacency was not an issue after a team meeting addressed the possibility of the side not being switched on for the contest.

"We spoke about it this morning and were pretty happy in our warm-up, and when the two minute bell we were fairly active."

In an Origin blow to Queensland, Cowboys hopeful Matt Scott suffered a medial ligament strain in his knee.

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