It was a relief for all the Cowboys fans to see North Queensland defeat the Broncos for the first time in four years at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.
The worrying signs were clear early when debutant Jack Reed dived in for the first try, but a nice try to James Tamou saw the Cowboys take the lead 6-4.
The Cowboys were up again when Michael Bani got a great ball from Gavin Cooper to make 12-4, before a half-time try to Will Tupou saw the Cowboys with a comfortable 12-point lead over their interstate rivals.
A try to Jharl Yow Yeh kept the intensity high, and then in the dying minutes, three consecutive sets to Broncos inside the Cowboys 10m line gave them a four-pointer when Dane Gagai scored.
Corey Parker had to make the kick to level the scores but missed it to make the final three minutes edge-of-the-seat stuff.
Thurston stripped it off Sam Thaiday to retain the ball back for the Cowboys, but a few plays later saw Tupou drop it 20m out from the line in the dummy-half position.
The Cowboys were short on the left and a little grubber-kick through almost saw the Broncos score untiol Ash Graham had enough pace to get there.
The drop-out reduced the time, and in the end, the Broncos ran out of time, giving the Cowboys an emphatic victory 16-14.
Good:
What the Cowboys did well was their tackling.
Bad:
Metres gained is still a problem. This is where they were put under pressure when they were still deep in their territory on the fifth tackle.
The Player:
Johnathan Thurston. No surprise. He was everywhere and he needed to be, because without him, it would have been a humiliation.
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