The Rabbitohs have climbed to third on the NRL ladder after upsetting the more favoured Cowboys 10-6 in Townsville.

Those watching may have forgotten both sides had eight days to prepare as silly errors stopped the game from getting out of third gear.

Both sides played a style of football befitting the flat atmosphere of a half-filled stadium, with handling errors and wrong options prevalent throughout.

The Rabbitohs' defence shut down the Cowboys attacking raids in the first term to keep the score to 6-4 in North Queensland's favour at half-time and the visitors took the lead midway through the second half.

Nathan Merritt broke the game open, latching onto a perfectly weighted grubber kick from Joe Williams to take the Bunnies out to a four-point lead and ultimately match-winning advantage.

The Cowboys were their own worst enemies, and their forwards were completely outplayed by a pack containing veteran skipper Peter Cusack and star Kiwis prop Roy Asotasi, the man of the match.

The home side were denied a try in the early stages of the second half after reserve hooker David Faiumu found a flying Ben Vaeau.

Video referee Chris Ward ruled the former Bronco grounded the ball short of the tryline and then Jason Smith dropped the pill in the following set of six.

That was as close as the Cowboys looked like getting to the tryline after butchering numerous opportunities and a glutton of possession.

Cowboys utility David Faiumu looked like he could spark a home side resurgence before being carted off on a stretcher with knee ligament damage just before full-time.

The Rabbitohs' win was built on stoic defence and stand-out games from young halves Joe Williams and Jeremy Smith.

Ex-Eel Smith kept the pressure on the Cowboys with a penetrating kicking game, while Williams continued to show the benefits of learning under coach Jason Taylor.

The Cowboys won one contest by being the first NRL club to end South's record of scoring first in matches when Jason Smith and Johnathan Thurston found an unmarked Paul Bowman in the 31st minute.

However, the Rabbitohs replied with a try of their own just before the break through the ball skills of John Sutton and the finishing of Shannon Hegarty to trail by only a conversion at half-time.

The Mackay centre beat four men to score the second of only three tries for the night.

Cowboys coach Graham Murray was left to rue a pathetic effort from his team in his 300th game as a coach in the NRL.

He made a number of selection changes prior to kick-off, Jason Smith dropping back to the bench and Kiwi international Sione Faumuina starting at five-eighth.

The props were also swapped with State of Origin aspirant Shane Tronc demoted to the bench and Ray Cashmere getting a starting role.

Bench forward Scott Bolton was also left out, with former Bronco Ben Vaeau promoted into the squad - no moves forced by injury.

However, a gamble on the fitness of Ashley Graham did not pay dividends for the Cowboys, with the centre suffering a recurrence of a hamstring strain while striding out in the 15th minute.

Referee Ben Cummins continually penalised both sides for not playing the ball with their feet and placed Souths forward Luke Stuart on report for what looked like a deliberate kick to the head of Matt Bowen while he was on the ground.

Predictions of a poor Monday night crowd were accurate with a half-empty Dairy Farmers Stadium.

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