The Sydney Roosters have gone down to the Cowboys 42-10 in Townsville.
A poor start cost the visitors as the Cowboys held on in the second to secure the two points.
The Cowboys dominated from the opening whistle scoring on the very first set of six.
A towering bomb wasn't taken by the Tricolours and a lucky bounce saw the ball end up in the Cowboys hands and the home side spread the ball well to touch down according to the video referee who had no choice but to award the try despite being no proof the ball touched the turf.
A penalty goal soon after extended the lead to six before an awkward bounce set the Cowboys up for their second.
A towering bomb was again left alone and the ball ended up in the hands of Tariq Sims for a simple touch down.
Former Rooster Kane Linnett scored his second and the teams third minutes later when Thurston exploited numbers on the left passing off to open up a massive lead early on.
The Tricolours finally hit the scoreboard and it started and ended with the skipper.
Minichiello made a break from the Cowboys kick on the first tackle and then finished off a swift back line movement on the last tackle after a beautiful cut out ball from Guerra.
Luck just wasn't going the way of the Tricolours.
Brent Tate mishandled the ball late in the half but lucky the ball managed to go backwards straight to Thurston who touched the ball down for the Cowboys fourth try.
Poor defence saw the Cowboys score yet again just before the break to all but seal the result.
The Tricolours fought hard in the second half but simply couldn't manage to get up their own end of the field.
Daniel Mortimer scored the Rooster sole try in the second stanza, latching on to a clever Tuivasa-Sheck grubber after the Kiwi had once again showed his class with a sharp and unstoppable step deep in Cowboy territory.
It proved to be too little too late though as two second half tries to the Cowboys saw the home side run away with a deserved victory.
