It was supposed to be all about the Bulldogs, but former Canterbury half Johnathan Thurston once again had the Belmore fans ruing the club's decision to let him leave in 2004.

The North Queensland Cowboys are back on track to defend their NRL premiership after beating Canterbury, who have slipped out of the top four.

North Queensland have powered to a 34-6 NRL victory over the Warriors to snap their three-game losing streak.

It may be the only way North Queensland can defend their NRL premiership but Johnathan Thurston believes a team can win this year's competition from outside the top four.

• ANALYSIS

Judging by the Roosters' 22-10 victory over North Queensland, they are the best-looking 15th-placed team I have ever seen.

Paul Green is adamant the premiers can defend their NRL title from outside the top four after a morale-sapping loss to the Roosters.

Johnathan Thurston once told Mitchell Pearce if he wanted to get close to the State of Origin shield he better find Wally Lewis' statue. Pearce surely would have reminded him his own days with the NRL silverware is fast ending.

Former Raiders coach David Furner says his old club are genuine premiership contenders.

It may be a financial burden playing NRL games at suburban grounds however Wests Tigers may not be able to ignore the competitive benefit

There was no fluke in this victory. The Cowboys were simply superb.

In the space of 80 minutes, Wests Tigers fans went from booing their own coach to giving his team a standing ovation.

A Cowboys assistant coach has emerged as the man to help Michael Maguire halt the alarming slide at Souths as they try to lure the former Raiders head coach to Redfern.

I reckon....

North Queensland's reliance on talisman Johnathan Thurston has been underscored by a rare home defeat to Melbourne.

A hamstring injury to Johnathan Thurston has soured another emphatic home victory for North Queensland in Thursday night's 36-0 NRL thrashing of Canterbury in Townsville.

Former Canberra Raiders junior scores try on debut and hears a familiar voice in the crowd.

All the talking points from Monday night's Raiders-Cowboys game.

The Canberra Raiders are just one point outside the top four after a brilliant two-try effort from Jack Wighton.

• Live

Join us for the live action from Canberra Stadium as the Raiders host the Cowboys from 7pm.