Determined not to be derailed by the State of Origin period, stars Matt Scott and Johnathan Thurston have fired North Queensland to a thumping 46-16 win over the hapless Newcastle.
Backing up just three days after Origin one, Scott and Thurston shone as the Cowboys jumped Brisbane into third place with the eight-tries-to-three rout in Townsville on Saturday.
With Justin O'Neill and James Tamou also backing up, the Cowboys proved far too strong for the inexperienced cellar dwellers, who remain anchored to last place after eight straight losses.
While the 2015 premiers were always expected to be too good for the Knights - who fielded eight players aged 21 or younger - it was nonetheless a valuable two points.
The side's loss, without their Origin stars against St George Illawarra's last week, and the Warriors' 36-18 thumping of Brisbane just hours earlier, demonstrated the toll the Origin period can have on a side.
However, Paul Green's big names stood up to be counted, with Matt Scott in particular a standout in the side's engine room, running for 140 metres in the first half alone.
"With our Origin players back in, it was a little bit more fluent," Green said.
"It's a tough period with the number of players we had involved so we're really happy with the win.
"I thought (Scott) and Jimmy (Tamou) in particular playing through the middle part of the field there, their first stint was great.
"The idea was to stretch them out while they were feeling great and then use them sparingly in the second half. Luckily, it panned out that way."
Michael Morgan was the only one of Paul Green's Origin contingent not to back up.
His replacement, Ray Thompson, fired at five-eighth, scoring a first-half double as the home side galloped to a 24-6 halftime lead.
When John Asiata popped a magic ball for Jake Granville to score under the posts five minutes after halftime, the game was as good as over at 30-6 and the floodgates opened.
For Newcastle, they remain anchored to the bottom of the table after one win from 13 outings, but coach Nathan Brown continues to see positives.
Brown said he could not fault his side's effort - they were simply out-muscled by an older, stronger and more experienced unit, an observation illustrated by the Cowboys running a combined 1622m to the Knights' 1115m.
"It's very hard for the younger kids to compete and I have no problem with the effort the guys put in," Brown said.
"And I think when we did get a little bit of ball, the guys actually caused them some problems. We just couldn't physically compete with them.
"This is the stage of the club we're going through - we're developing younger players and we have a large chunk of the salary cap that is not taking part."
