Cronulla Sharks 12
North Queensland maestro Johnathan Thurston produced a masterful display to bury the Cowboys' Toyota Stadium hoodoo with a dominant 30-12 National Rugby League win over Cronulla tonight.
Thurston was at his brilliant best as he set set up three of the Cowboys five tries at a venue where they had won only once in 11 visits, potentially serious injuries to Nathan Gardner and Albert Kelly adding to Cronulla's misery as they slumped to their fourth straight loss.
Gavin Cooper celebrated his 100th game with a deserved double, the game as good as over before the hour mark as the visitors ran up a 20-0 lead, Thurston's stunning accuracy with the boot in stark contrast to the Sharks' insipid kicking game.
The Sharks were always going to be up against it after Gardner limped off with less than five minutes gone with suspected ankle ligament damage, but the home side still had the better of the early going thanks to a 4-0 penalty count.
Their one genuine try-scoring attempt was called back for a forward pass from Paul Gallen to Ben Pomeroy, while an innocuous looking chip from Kelly almost turned to gold when he regathered with Thurston chopping him down just short of the line.
The tide turned just shy of the half hour when Matthew Wright - deputising at fullback for Gardner - spilled a Matt Bowen bomb with plenty of venom on it, the Cowboys camping themselves on the Sharks line before Cooper crashed over off a Thurston flat ball.
Scott Bolton was held up over the line as the Cowboys threatened to put more points on the board, the visitors forced to settle for an 8-0 halftime lead with Thurston adding a penalty goal after a Kade Snowden high tackle on Ray Thompson.
Already without Gardner, the Sharks lost their only other creative spark for the second half with Kelly failing to return from the sheds with a suspected broken leg, Thurston adding to Cronulla's pain with a grubber for Kalifa Faifai Loa to score as he beat John Williams to the ball.
Thurston added the extras from the sideline to put North Queensland out by more than two converted tries, but the Cowboys weren't done with yet as they went in for the kill.
Wade Graham did well to deny Bowen a try under the posts when he scrambled to get his hand to another Thurston kick, his desperation only delaying the inevitable as Ashley Graham added his name to the scoresheet.
Cooper collected his double as Thurston brought up his third try assist 12 minutes from time, Luke Douglas and Gallen giving the small crowd of 7340 something to cheer with a pair of tries late in the game before Willie Tonga ended proceedings with an intercept try right before fulltime.
North Queensland 30 (G Cooper 2 K Fai Fai Loa A Graham W Tonga tries J Thurston 5 goals) bt Cronulla 12 (L Douglas P Gallen tries M Wright 2 goals) at Toyota Stadium. Referee: Gavin Badger, Steve Lyons. Crowd: 7,340.
- AAP
