North Queensland coach Ian Millward has denied his team is motivated to avoid the dreaded wooden spoon rather declaring earning the respect of teammates as the catalyst behind the Cowboys 22-10 victory over Canberra.

The Cowboys produced a scintillating first half performance with Aaron Payne delivering a devastating display of dummy half running resulting in two try assists.

Saturday night's victory has North Queensland well placed to avoid the NRL's most unwanted tag after drawing ahead of the Bulldogs with a superior for and against record.

"We didn't really talk much about the wooden spoon ... you come off earning the respect of your teammate," Millward said.

"It wasn't about us getting off the bottom tonight it was about having the respect for each other."

The Cowboys also boasted their strongest forward pack in recent times with Tronc (162m), Carl Webb (124m), Ray Cashmere (201m) and Matt Scott (115m) all turning in strong performances.

"We felt the forwards we put out tonight were as good a pack the club has got," Millward said.

"We expected a dominant performance like that and the forwards were outstanding."

Captain Johnathan Thurston was similar in his praise for the Cowboys engine room.

"I thought Luke O'Donnell on the edge was very dominant with some big hits and that was pretty much across the board so that was very pleasing," Thurston said.

"It gives us a little bit of confidence and something to look forward to next year but we want to focus on hopefully getting a win at Shark Park."

Although returning to the nation's capital empty handed Canberra skipper Alan Tongue remained optimistic about his sides final chances.

"We turned over too much possession and I have to put my hand up there too," Tongue said.

"We have a bit of a longer turnaround and we are still in an exciting position."

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