The career of North Queensland Cowboys back-rower Ethan Lowe is in doubt after his spinal chord was damaged in a tackle against the Melbourne Storm in last week's first game of the finals series.Lowe will miss tonight's do-or-die semi-final with the Brisbane Broncos at Dairy Farmers Stadium in Townsville. His playing future, meanwhile, remains up in the air.There are suggestions the damage was caused by a banned "grapple tackle;" a wrestling manoeuvre in which extreme pressure is placed on a player's neck and head in an attempt to make him submit to the tackle and slow the play the ball down. The technique was one of several controversial wrestling moves introduced by the Melbourne Storm with help from jiu jitsu instructor John Donehue, a number of which have since been outlawed by the NRL. Cowboys Coach Paul Green, who has been an ardent critic of the Storm's wrestling techniques, was careful not to buy into the controversy ahead of tonight's must-win match."Ethan Lowe's season is finished. Unfortunately he has injured his spinal chord," Green said."As you can imagine it is pretty serious and pretty sensitive. Outside of that I can't comment too much.Pushed by reporters to respond, he maintained his silence."As I said, due to the nature of the injury and the sensitivity surrounding it I am not going to comment any further," Green said.Lowe is the third player to suffer a serious neck injury due to a controversial tackle from a Melbourne Storm player. Craig Bellamy's team was embroiled in one of the darkest chapters in the history of the game in 2014 when a tackle involving three of their players broke the neck of Newcastle Knights player, Alex McKinnon, leaving him paralysed from the waist down. The player found to be most responsible, Jordan Mclean, was handed a seven match suspension for his role in the tackle.
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Prior to that, Melbourne Storm players Stephen Kearney and Marcus Bai were responsible for breaking the neck of former New Zealand test captain, Jarrod McCracken, also ending his career. In that case it was a spear tackle and not a wrestling move that did the damage, though it didn't stop McCracken from successfully suing the Melbourne Storm for damages to the tune of $97 500."They (the injuries) also prevented him from continuing in a career for which he had a passion and which must have involved substantial satisfaction and reward in addition to that of a monetary nature," Justice Hulm said in his judgment.(The footage below is not the tackle that injured Jarrod McCracken)