So far, the Cowboys take the cake for the most nail-biting finishes of Rounds 1 and 2 in 2017.
In both games, they’ve taken the other team to golden point. In both games, Johnathan Thurston has saved the day.
And in both games, it already feels as if they are playing finals football.
So can North Queensland do it again in 2017?
With Thurston’s retirement now on the distant horizon this might be his last chance.
Much of it will depend upon how well Paul Green creates synergy early in the season.
At their best, the Cowboys of 2015 were the most professional team in the competition.
Even Thurston didn’t take the spotlight, encouraging each player to contribute equally and in their own way.
That solidified throughout 2016 and fuelled the Cowboys’ drive to the finals.
The last two weeks have witnessed that same sense of teamship.
Last night it was especially acute, as the Cowboys found closing out the game without interchange.
Still, North Queensland managed to circle the wagons and get the job done.
It’s that synergy that really provides Thurston with the foundation to shine.
Conversely, it’s Thurston who really fuels that synergy.
It’s promising, then, that he’s been especially vocal in leadership and organisation on the field in the last two weeks as well.
As a result, the new Cowboys recruits already feel like old fixtures.
Similarly, the team has reconfigured the front row so seamlessly that you’d barely know Ben Hannant and James Tamou had gone.
The 2015 grand final win didn’t just represent a brilliant footy team, or Thurston’s footy genius, but a footy culture that remains unique within the NRL.
There’s a reason, after all, why the Cowboys have the most galvanising home ground in the competition.
If North Queensland can showcase that culture as emphatically as they have over the last two weeks, the sky’s the limit.
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