Brisbane were no match for perfection as North Queensland flexed their premiership muscle with a flawless completion rate in their 31-20 win over the Broncos on Friday night.
The battle of the Queensland heavyweights lived up to its hype, but it was the Cowboys who made the bigger statement.
The club completed a perfect 34 from 34 sets.
Emerging superstar Michael Morgan grabbed a hat-trick.
And resurgent New South Wales prop James Tamou ploughed upfield for 193m.
But it was all Brisbane early as the NRL leaders opened up an early 12-point lead as wingers Lachlan Maranta and Jordan Kahu scored out wide within the first quarter of the game, Corey Parker nailing a conversion from either sideline.
But it wasn't to last, as Tamou, who had 99m by the 30 minute mark, hauled the Cowboys upfield and back into the contest.
Morgan was troubled with an ankle complaint but it didn't stop him from dragging Anthony Milford over the line as he scored the Cowboys first try.
A slice of Thurston brilliance then found Ethan Lowe running off his hip and the newly re-signed second-rower strode over untouched in the 35th minute, Thurston converting both tries to lock up the scores 12-12.
A Thurston penalty-goal in the shadows of halftime gave the home side the 14-12 lead at the night.
The Maroons maestro then put in a pinpoint kick for Gavin Cooper who reached out and planted the ball five minutes after the break, the conversion opening up an eight point lead.
Maranta grabbed his second in the 51st minute off the back of some Milford magic and when the Cowboys gave away a gift penalty in front of the sticks five minutes later, Parker locked the scores at 20-20.
The Cowboys piled on the pressure with three repeats sets, but the determined Broncos defence refused to crack for a time, holding firm until the 70th minute.
The line finally cracked, Morgan bagging a second and giving the Cowboys a 26-10 lead before a Lachlan Coote field goal just two minutes later iced the game.
A third to Morgan in the dying minutes simply a bonus for the Cowboys.
Broncos coach Wayne Bennett was pleased with his side's ability to stay in the game until Morgan blew the score out late.
"I thought it was probably a fair scoreboard up until then," he said.
"I'm not disappointed in the Broncos at all.
"They were on their game and they played really, really well.
"We won't walk away from here disappointed about what we did."
Cowboys coach Paul Green praised the impeccable completion rate.
"You certainly put yourself in every game if you've got that sort of ball control," he said.
"They're a team that plays pretty quick off the back of some quick play the balls so we needed to have a high completion rate.
"It was very pleasing that the boys were able to execute when they needed to."
