Bulldogs' cast-off Johnathan Thurston turned on his old club as the North Queensland Cowboys repeated last year's stunning finals upset with a 24-12 NRL win at Dairy Farmers Stadium.

And another 2004 cast-off, former Broncos forward Carl Webb, produced the fend of the year in scoring a spectacular second half try that almost matched his State of Origin bottler for Queensland three years ago.

Webb busted the defensive line in his own half and with an unmarked Thurston hurtling up on his inside, he hit Bulldogs fullback Luke Patten in the chest with a massive don't argue as he ran 35 metres to the try line to give his side a 16-6 lead in the 51st minute.

Centre Josh Hannay, who scored eight of the Cowboys first 12 points, landed a psychological blow 18 minutes from full time, booting a penalty goal to take the home side out to a 12-point lead.

The victory was secured with a piece of Paul Bowman magic as the veteran centre shovelled on a pass from Rod Jensen to flying winger Ty Williams to score in the corner.

Hannay's sideline conversion hit the upright and dropped over.

Dogs winger Hazem El Masri scored a converted try in the final minute, but the game was well and truly over by that stage.

It was the Cowboys first home victory in nine attempts against the Bulldogs and a repeat of their shock win in last year's finals series in Sydney.

The victory delighted a majority of the 21,138 fans, many of whom had travelled thousands of kilometres and who sat in their seats as sheet rain swept sideways across the field for the final 15 minutes of the opening half.

When the players returned for the second half leading 12-6, the rain had gone and so has had a few thousand drowned fans who opted to leave to watch the second half action in their homes or in nearby pubs.

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