They were meant to crumble without Johnathan Thurston, but North Queensland reinforced their claim for a top-four NRL finish with a third straight win on Sunday.
The Cowboys' convincing 23-10 win over South Sydney in Cairns on Sunday meant they finished the round in sixth spot, but equal on points with third-placed Manly.
North Queensland are now undefeated since being told of Thurston's season-ending shoulder injury last month, a blow many thought would cruel their season.
"We'd love to have him playing but the reality is he's not," coach Paul Green said.
"You do need to move on, and move on pretty quickly in this competition.
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"That's one thing we can give our team a rap for.
"As devastated as we have been that his season is finished we've got our head around it and everyone is looking forward to the challenge that is ahead of us."
The win was also the Cowboys' sixth victory of the year in 10 games without Thurston, improving on their previous woeful record of 3-10 without him since the start of 2012.
While North Queensland were comfortable on Sunday, Manly were anything but against the struggling Wests Tigers.
But their come-from-behind 28-16 win was enough to keep them behind only ladder-leaders Melbourne and the Sydney Roosters after 19 rounds, with all sides having now had their two byes.
"As soon as that Origin period finishes the stakes go up," Manly coach Trent Barrett said.
"All the games are important now.
"We're going to be playing teams fighting for a top-four finish or fighting to stay in the hunt to jag an eighth-spot position."
The Sea Eagles' victory meant they were able to leapfrog Cronulla, who were trounced 30-10 by the Gold Coast on Saturday night.
The loss left the Sharks fifth, after Brisbane also did it the hard way in overcoming a halftime deficit to beat last-placed Newcastle and move into fourth on Saturday.
Parramatta are two points further back in seventh after their final bye, while St George Illawarra are only one win clear of the chasing pack in eighth after their golden-point loss to Canberra on Friday.
It moved the Raiders to 10th with their finals hopes still in tact, while Penrith remain ninth after knocking over the Warriors on Friday - who lost Shaun Johnson to a potentially season-ending knee injury.
