North Queensland made it back-to-back NRL wins as they ground out an ugly 20-16 victory over St George Illawarra at WIN Stadium in Wollongong.

Cowboys skipper Johnathan Thurston was the architect of the narrow win with each side scoring three tries apiece, the game in the balance until the final play as the home side launched a gallant fightback.

While the match never reached any great heights, the two teams weren't helped by an insipid refereeing display from Tony De Las Heras and his partner in the box, the majority of their decisions leaving fans and officials scratching their heads.

The Dragons looked like they had made the perfect start when Jamie Soward ghosted through the Cowboys' defence only for video referee Graeme West to spot an obstruction not seen by any of the other 11,639 people inside the ground.

It was as bemusing a decision as West's call to award Soward a four-pointer on 30 minutes, the Dragons half appearing to knock the ball on not once but twice as he attempted to ground the ball.

It left the Dragons down 8-6 after Thurston had scored next to the posts, a ricochet from a chip kick finding Luke O'Donnell who showed good hands to pass to his skipper on the inside.

Thurston had opened the scoring after five minutes when he converted a simple penalty goal, Ben Hornby kicking out on the full from the restart to give the visitors another crack at the line.

But in truth it was the Dragons who had the better field position only for a lack of options or poor execution to let them down.

Even when they got over the tryline they found a way to botch points, Rangi Chase failing to simply fall on a rolling ball as he chased his own grubber into the in-goal, Thurston showing his how it's down with his four-pointer three minutes later.

Soward's try ensured the Dragons were still in it at the break but it wasn't too long before they were huddled together in the in-goal with Anthony Watts diving over untouched from dummy half.

Thurston then stamped his class and looked like he had put the issue beyond doubt as he first put Carl Webb through a hole before backing up to take the Cowboys down field.

Dragons skipper Mark Gasnier then instigated a resurgence from the home side with a long run down field which eventually resulted in Chase kicking for Jason Nightingale to score out wide.

It was game on when Hornby put Stuart Webb over on 70 minutes to make it 20-16, but that's where the scoring ended.

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