North Queensland Cowboys celebrated Johnathan Thurston’s final game in Townsville with a dominant 44-6 win over Parramatta Eels.
The win also took the Cowboys off the bottom to be replaced by their opponents.
Thurston, in his 100th win in Townsville, started the ball rolling with a penalty and then an assist for Ben Hampton.
Five minutes later, after great team play from the Cowboys, Thurston again laid on a try for his fullback Hampton.
Then it was Jake Clifford who set up Kyle Feldt for two tries; one with a pass and the other with a kick.
Gavin Cooper helped Gideon Gela-Mosby bring 30 up for the Cowboys before the half was out.
Clifford kicked for Feldt’s hat-trick try five minutes after half-time.
Gavin Cooper made history after going over for a try. Eight successive try-scoring games for a forward, the first time in the NRL since Frank Burge in 1918.
Cowboys: Hampton, Feldt, O’Neill, Linnett, Gela-Mosby, Clifford, Thurston, Scott, Granville, McLean, Cooper, Hess, Taumalolo; Interchanges: Asiata, Molo, Bolton, Lowe
Tries: Hampton 2, Feldt 3, Gela-Mosby, Cooper; Goals: Thurston 8
Eels: Norman, Hayne, M Jennings, Gutherson, G Jennings, Salmon, Moses, Evans, King, Vave, Niukore, Moeroa, Terepo; Interchanges: Mahoney, Mannah, Gower, Takairangi
Tries: M Jennings; Goals: Moses
Sin bin: Takairangi (52) – repeated team offences
Full match reports of all this weekend’s NRL games will feature in Monday’s League Express.