An expletive-laden halftime spray from injured captain Johnathan Thurston played a big part in North Queensland's 28-20 comeback win over the Gold Coast at Skilled Park on Saturday night.

Thurston's passion got the better of him just before the players went back out onto the field, down 14-6, and he let fly with blistering speech which, according to the players, got their minds firmly on the job after a poor first 40 minutes.

"I thought we lacked a bit of intensity and I said a fair few swear words getting that message across but the boys seemed to respond," said Thurston after the Cowboys' second away win without him in the No.7 jumper.

"We got our fifth tackle options right and put a bit of pressure on them and came up with some points."

Thurston hadn't planned to talk to the players at the break.

But after watching from the stands he felt the situation warranted saying something to his teammates.

"There wasn't much spring in the boys' step and I said what I had to say," explained Thurston.

"It was good to see that they responded."

Man-of-the-match Matt Bowen missed the blast but he was not a target.

"I actually missed it, I was in the toilet," laughed Bowen.

"I heard him blowing up. Johnno's always competitive.

"He wanted to get a message across to the boys and he did."

Apart from his game-turning tackle on try-bound flyer David Mead just before halftime, Bowen stepped up and took a lot of pressure off young halves Ben Jones and Ray Thompson.

"With Johnno not playing I wanted to get involved more," the fullback said.

The Titans started the way they wanted with speedster William Zillman scoring twice for a 12-0 lead after just 20 minutes.

A Scott Prince penalty in the 39th minute edged the Titans out to a 14-6 lead.

But when centre Brent Tate celebrated his return from a serious knee injury with a try in the 47th minute the Cowboys were in front 18-14.

The Titans regained the lead briefly at 20-18 when winger Steve Michaels caught a perfect cross field kick off Prince's boot.

But the last-placed Titans couldn't withstand the Cowboys big finish with forward Gavin Cooper, redeeming himself for an embarrassing first half blunder, and Willie Tonga both crossing for tries late in the game.

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