Johnathan Thurston stood up in North Queensland’s hour of need with an inspirational display to help his struggling NRL side hold off St George Illawarra 22-16 on Friday night at WIN Stadium.
In a sight that will have brought a relieved smile to under-fire Cowboys coach Neil Henry and also Maroons supremo Mal Meninga, Thurston produced a captain’s knock and showed he’s fully recovered from the groin injury that’s affected him in recent weeks.
The Test five-eighth had a hand in all four of his side’s tries and kicked three goals as they ended a run of five successive defeats.
Playing into a stiff breeze in the second half, the Cowboys defended seven successive sets in the final 10 minutes as they desperately defended their line in front of a disappointing crowd of 9035 in Wollongong.
It was a heroic effort from the visitors and eased the pressure on Henry who was forced to do without NSW prop James Tamou who was stood down this week for drink-driving.
The Dragons had the possession to claim the two points after halftime, but had only a Ben Creagh try to show for their dominance.
This was in spite of a fine performance from fullback Josh Dugan who gave NSW coach Laurie Daley another nudge ahead of Sunday’s squad selection for State of Origin game two.
The Dragons took the lead after four minutes when Brett Morris hauled in a Nathan Fien bomb.
The Cowboys’ response was swift and Antonio Winterstein crossed six minutes later following a fine Thurston break.
Clint Greenshields increased the visitors’ lead after the referee overruled the on-field officials who had initially chalked off the try for obstruction.
Michael Weyman then crashed over for the Dragons but Kane Linnett gave the Cowboys the lead just before the break after Winterstein patted back a teasing Thurston kick.
Creagh opened the scoring in the second half with Dugan’s kick levelling the scores before Brent Tate latched onto a Thurston chip kick to score.
Robert Lui and Tariq Sims were put on report for high tackles that made contact with the head.
Dugan could also be in trouble with the match review committee on Monday after catching Thurston high, but he was not put on report for the offence.