THE Cowboys’ confidence is built on a belief they are never beaten as they ride an 11-game winning streak in which they have come from behind 10 times.

The Cowboys are harder to kill than a cockroach and have surged up the NRL ladder with an ability to conjure wins against all odds.

While turning a 30-6 deficit into a 36-30 win against Parramatta three weeks ago was their greatest Houdini act, the Cowboys have trailed or been level inside the final 10 minutes in five games before emerging victorious.

In all but one of their 11 straight wins, the result has been in the balance, with a converted try or less the deficit, inside the final 10 minutes before the Cowboys kicked away to win.

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The only game in which they were never behind on the scoreboard was the last time Johnathan Thurston was absent, when they beat Wests Tigers 8-0 after leading 2-0 for most of the night.

It is an incredible ability to close the deal and get the job done right up until the 80th minute, or indeed the 85th minute as their golden point win over Melbourne in Round 4 to spark the winning streak showed, that has the Cowboys flying high.

The winning run has sparked a belief this could finally be North Queensland’s year for a maiden premiership but winger Antonio Winterstein insists the golden run will not inflate the egos up north.

“Everyone is in high spirits at the moment but we’ve been in that place before and come up short the last couple of years,’’ Winterstein said. “We just have to stay humble and not become complacent about where we are on the ladder and keep grinding away week by week.

“Our confidence is pretty high but no one is sitting here getting too far ahead of themselves. We are staying focused on what we have to do each week, which is a good sign.’’

Winterstein said coach Paul Green had targeted their slow starts as a major concern to address in the coming weeks and they will want to get out of the blocks quickly tomorrow night at home to Cronulla.

“If we can start well we will make it a lot easier for us towards the end of the game,” he said.

“We know if we’re behind in the first half we think we can finish well and that is part of our game that we can improve is starting well.

“If that doesn’t go according to plan we know we can hang in there for the full 80 minutes.’’