Brisbane is a city that loves rugby league and the Broncos are the only top-flight team in town. Strangely enough, it doesn't guarantee Wayne Bennett's boys the majority of support in the Queensland capital in Sunday's NRL grand final.

North Queensland's quest for a maiden title has claimed many hearts in its 20-year history and is set to sway all bar the rusted on Broncos faithful in the season decider.

Support for the Cowboys makes perfect sense outside the state capital, but such is the rich success of the resident club in the capital, the neutrals are casting their eyes to Townsville.

Queensland's psyche permeates from headquarters and it seems Brisbanites, just like their Maroon counterparts in regional and rural areas, love an underdog more than they love Benny and Broncs.

There has always been a hint of anti-Broncos sentiment in Brisbane, stemming mainly from the club's monopoly over such fertile league territory, but to suggest its a torrent of hatred and the main factor of this nuance would be a gross over-statement.

Queenslanders love Wayne Bennett but they are starting to love Johnathan Thurston more.

Bennett led Queensland rugby league to the Holy Lands of club football when Brisbane won the 'Sydney competition' in 1992 and he steered the club to five more titles before departing after the 2008 season.

During this time, barring the three-year tenure of the South Queensland Crushers from 1995-97, the Broncos have had Brisbane to themselves.

The mantra from the club's Red Hill base for the majority its first two decades was that one Brisbane team in the national competition was enough as long as it was a strong one.

It took the return of the Gold Coast to top flight rugby league in 2007 after a nine-year absence for all to agree that south-east Queensland needed another NRL team.

Now, another eight years on, the call for a second club team based in the Queensland capital has become deafening.

Wayne Bennett is arguably the greatest coach in rugby league history and is regarded as a Queensland treasure, but even he has ruffled some feathers over the years.

Should the 65-year-old take Brisbane to a seventh title in his first year on return to the club it would only enhance his legend and endearment among Brisbane rugby league fans.

But that is another story, and in essence, would only be addition to a yarn that has already been written.

Queensland favourite ... Storm hooker Cameron Smith (L) said this week he hopes Johnathan Thurston finally wins his long-awaited premiership. ( AAP: Tracey Nearmy )

On a whole, Brisbanites care more about State of Origin than regular week-to-week NRL club football, and this is how Thurston has won the hearts of so many in the capital.

To those who aren't rusted on fans of the sport, the grand final is the last of four games they watch each year, and that is only if there is some interest in the club decider, because there is no way they are missing the previous three.

Thurston has not missed an Origin game since his Maroons debut in 2005 and his 11-year career in State colours has delivered nine series victories for Queensland.

He is the genius playmaker who has provided the state with so much joy through his playing feats. He has become the humble champion who gives his playing helmet to a young fan each time he plays. He is the reason kids in the north now want to be Cowboys instead of Broncos.

And then there is Thurston's laugh - one of the most intoxicating character traits the game has ever seen.

If JT is not enough to sway the neutrals, there are a host of other factors at play.

More than 80 per cent of Queensland is drought declared and most people in the regions are doing it tough. It's the rugby league equivalent of the BHP closures in Newcastle 1997 as the backdrop to the Knights' famous victory over Manly.

A maiden title would mean so much more to the region, and the Cowboys club, than a seventh crown for the Broncos.

And there is the feeling that 'little brother' has finally grown up. The Cowboys were born and spent their formative years amid the backdrop of the Super League war and finished last in three of their opening six seasons in top flight competition.

The Cowboys have long relied on Thurston as their fulcrum and playmaker. ( Getty Images: Ian Hitchcock )

If poor performances on the field weren't tough enough to take, the talented kids from the north dreamt of Bennett and the Broncos as the path to fulfil their rugby league dreams, instead of the local option.

Townsville-raised Broncos' veteran Sam Thaiday is a case in point, but he is one of the few remaining players of a dying trend.

Strangely enough it is the south-east Queensland raised Thurston, who had to go to Sydney to get a crack in the top grade as so many over-looked him because of his small stature, who has had such a telling role in redirecting the dreams of kids in the north.

The 32-year-old has not only won over his region, he has won over Queensland as a whole, and has never really regarded himself as a premiership player.

He played from the bench as a replacement for injured Canterbury captain Steve Price when the Bulldogs won the premiership in 2004 and moved north for the start of the next season.

The story of Sunday's NRL grand final begins as a blank canvas, but a big chunk of Brisbane is 'Thurston' for a new fairytale.