League: Broncos romp to win over Cowboys

For the second straight week, North Queensland playmaker Johnathan Thurston has been left battered and bruised.

But this time he was not alone as the winless Cowboys slumped to a 44-22 battering at the hands of NRL derby rivals Brisbane at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.

Plenty was said about Newcastle's dubious targeting of Thurston in the Knights' last-round win over North Queensland.

And Thurston was again reduced to his knees on Friday night - but only because he was getting his head around Brisbane's stunning win in front of 40,057 Brisbane fans.

A fiery welcome was expected after Broncos coach Wayne Bennett dismissed anyone who complained about Thurston being manhandled by Newcastle last round as "drama queens".

However, nothing could really prepare the Cowboys for what was to come.

Brisbane halfback Ben Hunt ran amok as the Broncos romped to a 32-6 halftime lead.

In the end, North Queensland scored three second-half tries to two, including a double to winger Kyle Feldt.

But it was not enough to snap a worrying 2015 losing streak for the pre-season NRL title favourites.

Brisbane notched their second straight win with the eight-tries-to-four romp, including a double to winger Lachlan Maranta.

Broncos coach Wayne Bennett reckoned it was hard to gauge how his team was placed, based on North Queensland's soft effort.

"To be totally candid I don't think the Cowboys turned up tonight," he said.

"They certainly weren't on their game. We scored some tries tonight that we wouldn't against teams that were on their game.

"We got an inflated performance. I don't think we were that good to be honest with you.

"There was a lot in our performance that I didn't like.

"Just small things that if you don't do against the good teams they will hurt you."

Cowboys coach Paul Green agreed with Bennett's brutal assessment.

"That's a fair assessment. We were a long way from what we expected from ourselves," he said.

"Especially defensively - we just lack some confidence as a team.

"We need to defend well and that should be the backbone of our game - especially when we come under a bit of pressure."

Thurston admitted their game was "shot" after the pre-season title favourites moved to a 0-3 season start.

Meanwhile, the only concern for Bennett was forward Josh McGuire coming off in the 19th minute after a high shot from Cowboys prop James Tamou.

Add a Comment