Johnathan Thurston hopes his North Queensland teammates have had a gutful of losing and being bagged by rugby league fans -- including their own supporters.

The Queensland and Australian halfback isn't hiding from the criticism the Cowboys copped last season, in fact, in some instances he believes they deserved it.

But he's had enough of walking off the footy field feeling the side didn't perform to its potential and wants everyone in the camp to turn things around in 2011.

Tipped as premiership hopes in 2010, the Cowboys won just seven of 24 games but thanks to salary cap cheats Melbourne (who finished with 14 wins) they were spared the wooden spoon stigma.

Thurston says he's had his best pre-season ever after injury forced him out of last year's Four Nations tournament and feeling re-energised.

"I've put on a couple of kilos, I'm really enjoying training and really enjoying life at the moment so I haven't got too many complaints," said Thurston.

"Without a doubt this is my best off-season."

The Cowboys have undergone changes to their front office and recruited players in key positions to help win more games in 2011.

Unfortunately, their marquee signing, Test and Queensland centre Brent Tate, suffered a serious knee injury against New Zealand in last Novembers Four Nations final in Brisbane and will miss a large slice of 2011.

They've picked up Brisbane trio Antonio Winterstein, Ashton Sims and his younger brother Tariq, who was named Toyota Cup player of the year last season.

Ben Jones who played for the Indigenous All Stars last year under Cowboys coach Neil Henry has also signed from Sydney Roosters.

They've also secured a long-term deal with promising young five-eighth Ray Thompson as Thurston's halves partner.

"We've made a lot of changes and my role is to help the boys be better players and make sure I'm up to scratch as well," said Thurston.

"There's a breath of fresh air at the club. You can definitely sense it with the changes they've made and the shift in attitude."

He said the players had been hurt by some of criticism they copped.

"We never go out there to lose but let's be honest, we were pretty dismal last year," he conceded.

"Some of our games were poor, which is what the scorelines showed.

"It was a very tough year for everyone.

"It's hard to put your finger on one thing that contributed to it.

"We played some games and just got beaten and we played some poor games and got flogged."

Thurston believes with the changes the club has made and with a different attitude things can turn around this season.

"I'm board with the changes," he said.

"I'm very happy with the direction the club is heading and I want to be a part of what lies ahead in the future."

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