COACH Paul Green said it best on Monday night when he stated, “We saw the real Johnathan Thurston”.

The master five-eighth kept North Queensland’s season alive with two field goals in five minutes to defeat Melbourne in a golden point thriller.

Thurston has been bashed all season, from the opposition and himself as he failed to meet his own expectations.

However, with the game winding down he owned the moment and rescued a season from despair.

With the clock reading 79 minutes in Townsville last night Thurston launched a field goal on the third tackle to draw level.

In the 84th minute he demanded the ball and with defenders swarming him kicked an even better one pointer.

“We saw the real Johnathan Thurston tonight,” Green said.

“That shows his composure, on the third tackle it felt right and he iced it.

“That’s why he’s the player he is.

“He cares so much about the club. We have been struggling and he takes more on than most people.

“We showed what we are capable of.

“It was a gutsy win. It showed a lot of character.”

The Cowboys came from 16-4 down with 18 minutes remaining to eventually win 18-17.

If the Cowboys make the finals, this is the game they will look back on as the reason.

North Queensland proved they have the mental toughness to make something of this season, one that had started disastrously with three straight losses.

Their final 30 minutes was the performance of a team that can make the top four. Their opening half was the performance of a team that won’t crack the top eight.

They showed last night they can dominate if they have confidence.

Melbourne was far superior in the first half but with nothing to lose, North Queensland finally fired up.

James Tamou had his best half in two years as the Cowboys fought back to draw level at full time through tries to Antonio Winterstein and Matt Wright.

This is a side that boasts 54 State of Origin matches in its starting 13.

A side that boasts the best five-eighth, prop and lock in rugby league in Thurston, Matt Scott and Taumalolo.

Their next assignments? Penrith in Penrith and South Sydney at ANZ Stadium.

Considering that road trip, their victory over Melbourne was a must as there is an enormous difference between 0-4 and 1-3.

The last time the Cowboys lost their opening four games was 2002.

That record still stands thanks to Thurston.

In 2002, coach Paul Green was among five captains as they won just eight games all season.

They will win far more than eight games this year.

However, Green must turn them into 80 minute players. Hell, even 60 minutes might do.

The Cowboys made five first half errors and two of them led directly to Storm tries as Kurt Mann and Felise Kaufusi benefited.

The Cowboys had ten days to prepare for the Storm but began the clash as if they only found out that morning they had an NRL game on at 6pm.

Lachlan Coote and Antonio Winterstein repeatedly let Cooper Cronk’s clearing kicks and bombs bounce in a bizarre strategy.

The Storm took advantage of the territory afforded to them with Queensland-raised centre Mann carving through the left flank as winger Matt Wright chased a dummy runner to leave two Storm players outside him.

Marika Koroibete then scored a brilliant 90 metre try after taking a bomb and beating three Cowboys to go the length in a Melbourne dominated first half.

NORTH QUEENSLAND 18 (A Winterstein 2 M Wright tries J Thurston 2 goals J Thurston 2 field goals) bt MELBOURNE 17 (F Kaufusi M Koroibete K Mann tries C Smith 2 goals C Cronk field goal) in golden-point extra time at 1300SMILES Stadium. Referee: Ben Cummins, Henry Perenara. Crowd: 11,609.

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