North Queensland skipper Johnathan Thurston engineered a 24-10 victory over Gold Coast and dominated the vaunted battle of the halfbacks in the NRL clash at Carrara.

In a match played in bucketing rain, Thurston set up all his team's three tries and booted six goals to completely outclass opposite number Scott Prince.

The Cowboys moved into outright third on the NRL ladder following the win and can now claim bragging rights over their Queensland rivals after narrowly defeating Brisbane in round one. The Titans are clinging to a top eight spot with a 4-4 record.

Thurston has a mortgage on the Queensland No.7 jersey for the State of Origin series opener against NSW on May 23 in Brisbane but Prince has been applying plenty of pressure on the Kangaroos halfback.

In a sign the duel has become personal, the pair were involved in a minor skirmish in the in-goal area half an hour into the contest, played in front of a 17,806-strong crowd.

"He told me I landed on him late so he didn't like it," was Prince's version of events.

Thurston claimed it was just a "giggle" and the pair were "still mates".

The Cowboys leader was simply brilliant in attack and even managed to pull off a try-saving tackle against centre Brett Delaney in the dying stages.

"He played all over Prince tonight," said Cowboys enforcer Carl Webb following his return from a five-week spell with a broken jaw.

"He put Prince under pressure and I think it really showed.

"They tried to do that to Johnno but he just went past them."

North Queensland coach Graham Murray added: "He was pretty outstanding. Not to embarrass him but he's a top class player in the NRL, not just in our football team."

Thurston said he had been looking forward to his battle with Prince, who played all three Origins in the 2004 series before Thurston rose to prominence.

"He's been playing pretty good footy and, coming up to Origin, I prepared pretty well during the week," Thurston noted.

"I wasn't too worried about his game, I was just concentrating on my own."

Dual international Mat Rogers was easily the Titans' best player, scoring a brace of tries to keep the home side in the hunt after they had trailed 16-4 at halftime.

Rogers showed plenty of speed and good footwork to constantly trouble North Queensland's defence in the absence of electrifying fullback Preston Campbell, who is sidelined for six weeks with a knee injury.

"He was in one of those moods tonight where everything he touched went right for him," said Titans coach John Cartwright, adding his side were "outwrestled" at the ruck.

"I don't think Preston would've made much difference out there in those conditions.

"They were more disciplined and professional.

"We were expecting good weather but we're not using that as an excuse at all."

Cowboys fullback Matt Bowen was safe as a house in the greasy conditions and scored the opening try after just six minutes after hauling in a difficult Thurston pass.

Thurston created further tries for Rod Jensen (36th minute) and veteran centre Paul Bowman (51st minute) to open up a 22-4 lead and virtually seal the result.

Rogers gave the Titans a glimmer of hope when he bagged his double in the 64th minute but it was too little, too late.

It wasn't all good news for the visitors though, with lock Justin Smith and centre Mark Henry suffering calf injuries and five-eighth Jason Smith picking up an ankle injury. All three will be assessed.

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