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Cowboys v Broncos preview
North Queensland Cowboys v Brisbane Broncos
1300SMILES Stadium - Friday 7:35pm 
Can Brisbane end the streak? Or will Jonathan Thurston be the Prince Of Queensland?
North Queensland will get another home game and another opportunity to continue their wonderful streak this Friday in what will be a cracking game of football up in Townsville against Brisbane.
After holding off Canterbury 23-16 on Saturday night in a thrilling game, the Cowboys extended their win streak to 6 games. It'll be no easy task getting to 7 wins on the trot however, against a Brisbane side that is currently leading the competition and seems to be very well drilled under Wayne Bennett.
For the Cowboys, just the two changes from last week's team. Ray Thompson and Sam Hoare replace Kelepi Tanganoa and Rory Kostjasyn.
North Queensland's goal line defence against Canterbury last week was very good in patches and ordinary in other patches. If the Cowboys can get their defence sorted in this game for the whole 80 minutes it will go a long way to them getting the 2 competition points which they would love to snatch off big brother.
Brisbane also make two changes to the side that outlasted Penrith 8-5 in a thrilling game at Suncorp Stadium last week. Josh McGuire is scratched out due to suspension and is a straight swap for the incoming Sam Thaiday, whilst Frances Molo comes onto the bench for Joe Ofahengaue who has been dropped back to the QLD Cup.
After Brisbane lost the opening game of the season convincingly to reigning premiers Souths back in March, many people (yours truly included) thought that it may take several weeks for the Broncos to realize their potential. That has been thrown out the window as Bennett has worked his magic with this young Broncos squad to elevate them to top of the ladder via 7 wins and 2 losses. It has been a marvelous turn around from the boys from Red Hill.
They will be very keen to get their 8th win of the season along with a win against their neighbors in a battle for the ages.
Last meeting: Round 3 2015 - Brisbane Broncos 44 North Queensland Cowboys 22
It has been neck and neck between both these clubs in recent times. In the last 10 matches the ledger is tied at 5-5, although the Cowboys did the double over the Broncos in 2014 with 27-14 & 32-20 victories.
Did You now: That it took 17 games for North Queensland to register their first win against Brisbane. That win came in week 2 of the 2004 Finals Series via a 10-0 win.
Who to watch: Lachlan Coote has been a revelation since returning as Cowboys fullback. His support play as well as his playmaking duties has definitely taken the pressure off Jonathan Thurston. His ability to bust through the line and to link up with his outside men will be a big focus on Friday night.
Brisbane will need to be on their best defensive form if they want to shut down Coote which is vital if they want to get the win on Friday night.
With Brisbane, they will be delighted to have the return of Sam Thaiday who missed last week's win. Thaiday is one of the most damaging ball runners in the game, so look out for his edge running on the fringes of the ruck as well as his explosiveness close to the line. Thaiday has a knack of getting to the line too. Scoring 31 tries in 217 NRL appearances.
Thaiday is coming off a big game last time out against Parramatta with 109 metres from 13 carries, 43 tackles and 4 tackle busts, Wayne Bennett will be hoping for more of the same on Friday night.
The favourite: North Queensland are favorites due to their 6 game winning streak and the home ground advantage.
My tip: I tipped the Cowboys earlier in the season when they lost to Brisbane and I'm going to stick with them again. They have been playing outstanding footy and look very strong all over the park.
Brisbane will be very tough to beat but I think the fact that they are missing Josh McGuire will hurt them up front.
Cowboys to win by 6 in a thrilling game.
1. Lachlan Coote 2. Matthew Wright 3. Justin O'Neill 4. Kane Linnett 5. Antonio Winterstein 6. Michael Morgan 7. Johnathan Thurston 8. Matthew Scott 9. Jake Granville 10. James Tamou 11. Gavin Cooper 12. Ethan Lowe 13. John Asiata
Interchange: 14. Ray Thompson 15. Ben Spina 16. Ben Hannant 17. Sam Hoare 18. Rory Kostjasyn
1. Darius Boyd 2. Jordan Kahu 3. Jack Reed 4. Justin Hodges 5. Lachlan Maranta 6. Anthony Milford 7. Ben Hunt 8. Sam Thaiday 9. Andrew McCullough 10. Adam Blair 11. Alex Glenn 12. Matt Gillett 13. Corey Parker
Interchange: 14. Jarrod Wallace 15. Francis Molo 16. Corey Oates 17. Kodi Nikorima
Referees: Jared Maxwell, Chris James; Sideline Officials: Steve Carrall, Peter Gough; Video Referees: Steve Clark, Luke Patten;