St George Illawarra fullback Josh Dugan's moment to state his case for Origin

JOSH Dugan needed all of five seconds and 40m to prove himself ready for Origin.

JOSH Dugan needed all of five seconds and 40m to prove himself ready for Origin.

MATCH CENTRE: DRAGONS v COWBOYS

Forget his reckless late shot on North Queensland skipper Johnathan Thurston, the real yarn out of this one is what happened with the livewire fullback at the 61st minute.

If you weren't watching get yourself a replay on the highlights above.

For while the Dragons went down by six, what surely mattered to the rest of the State - and undoubtedly Blues coach Laurie Daley - were those three, four, five seconds of ensuing Dugan brilliance.

Taking the Steeden on his own 20m line, and knowing NSW No.1 Jarryd Hayne is struggling with a hamstring tear, the fullback stepped one, then two Cowboys defenders before racing 40 metres upfield.

From there it was an offload inside to winger Brett Morris, who himself found Ben Creagh inside again for a try that, following a Dugan conversion, would prove the highlight of their night.

"He's certainly pushing for Origin isn't he,'' Dragons coach Steve Price confirmed afterwards.

"He's a special player. I never knew him before he came to this club but whenever he crosses that white stripe ... he's a super talent.''

While the entire play took no more than seconds, it mattered.

Despite a quiet first half, the axed Canberra Raider tried to throw himself into everything after the break - including Thurston.

Yet despite hitting the Queensland Origin star after he had kicked ahead for a Brent Tate try in the 65th minute, the fullback described it afterwards as "lazy but without malice''.

Thurston, in turn, claimed the tackle was "high'', but then joked Dugan would "probably get off''. Let's hope he is right.

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Certainly the Maroons superstar did little else wrong in his first game as a new father.

While the Cowboys had both prop Tariq Sims and halfback Robert Lui placed on report, nothing could overshadow the performance of their skipper who orchestrated three of four North Queensland tries and saved at least two more

"Outstanding,'' coach Neil Henry said of an effort that seemed to confirm Thurston has overcome the groin imjury he took into Origin I.

"That's the best game he's played for us all year.''

The match was not without controversy either. The Cowboys' second try, after 15 minutes to fullback Clint Greenshields, appeared to come only after the visitors were incorrectly awarded a repeat set.

While the referees ruled Dugan had knocked on ingoal, replays appeared to show Greenshields being responsible for the first knock on while jumping to contest the Steeden.

On a night when the difference would be a converted try, it was a crucial call.

Yet this night belonged to Thurston who was everywhere in the first half, playing a lead hand in two of the Cowboys' three tries.

The North Queensland playmaker orchestrated the first try when, running onto a lovely short ball from hooker Ray Thomspon, he broke the Dragons defence and made almost 30 metres before being felled short of the line.

From there the visitors simply shifted the ball left where centre Kane Linnett, a Dragons Toyota Cup player, found winger Antonio Winterstein to post their first points.

Then with eight minutes to the break, JT was at it again. This time providing a perfect cross kick which found Winterstein, who this time batted the ball back in for Linnett to score.

Playing their second game without No.6 Jamie Soward, it was the Dragons who played from in front after just four minutes when a Fien bomb, completely missed by Cowboys winger Ash Graham, found its way into the possession of Dragons flyer Brett Morris.

The home side then gave up two unanswered tries before hulking prop Michael Weyman crashed over near the posts with 28 minutes gone. Dugan converted to level the scores at 10-all.

NORTH QUEENSLAND 22 (C Greenshields K Linnett B Tate A Winterstein tries J Thurston 3 goals) bt ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA 16 (B Creagh B Morris M Weyman tries J Dugan 2 goals) at WIN Stadium. Referee: Jared Maxwell, Phil Haines. Crowd: 9,035.