North Queensland Toyota Cowboys coach Neil Henry says form over the remaining six weeks of the season will help decide whether a number of experienced players remain at the club in 2011.

Outside back Ty Williams, five-eighth Grant Rovelli and winger John Williams are among those coming off contract at the end of the year.

Coach Neil Henry is not ruling anything out at this stage but knows he has some tough decisions to make in the coming weeks.

"We're still in the market for a couple of key signings and we have recruited outside backs with (Kalifa) Fai-Fai Loa and (Brent) Tate and (Antonio) Winterstein, but you never say no (to re-signing off-contract players)," he said.

Williams presented a strong case for retention with a solid performance in the golden point win over Newcastle last Saturday night.

The 30-year-old, who debuted back in 2002, combined well with rookie five-eighth Arana Taumata and showed flashes of his old form.

Williams has spent most of the year in the Queensland Cup but is eager to play on and fight his way back to the NRL on a regular basis next year.

"He was very good out on the edge," Henry said of Williams' display against the Knights.

"He's a good talker – defensively he was helping out Arana – and he deserves his opportunity (in the top grade).

"We haven't closed the door (on re-signing him). At the moment we haven't offered him another contract but if he continues that form, who knows.

"He's very settled in Townsville and I think he's keen to play on."

Henry has retained the same 17 that downed the Knights for Friday's difficult assignment against the Panthers at CUA Stadium.

Penrith has lost three games straight to release its stranglehold on second spot and will be desperate to get its campaign back on track against the Cowboys.

In a major plus for the home side, representative forward Luke Lewis and influential half-back Luke Walsh return.

The Toyota Cowboys side to take on the Panthers is:
Matthew Bowen, Ashley Graham, Ty Williams, Willie Tonga, Will Tupou, Arana Taumata, Johnathan Thurston, Matt Scott, Aaron Payne, Willie Mason, Scott Bolton, Leeson Ah Mau, Luke O’Donnell. Interchange: Anthony Watts, Dane Hogan, Carl Webb, James Tamou.