Loss to North Queensland Cowboys does nothing to dent culture of Brisbane Broncos

ANTHONY Griffin said the Broncos' playing culture was well and truly intact despite losing the arm-wrestle against Queensland rivals the Cowboys.

BRISBANE coach Anthony Griffin said the Broncos' playing culture was well and truly intact despite losing the arm-wrestle against Queensland derby rivals the Cowboys on Friday night.

While the Cowboys have at times been criticised for lacking the killer instinct to close out big games, the Broncos are famed for their pride in performance and ability to lift in make-or-break moments.

But as pressure built in a torrid, scoreless opening 60 minutes at Dairy Farmers Stadium, it was the Broncos who cracked, giving the Cowboys their first win over Brisbane in Townsville since 2006.

The loss saw the Broncos drop below Canterbury to third, but Griffin admitted he derived more satisfaction from the Broncos' scoreless effort on Friday night than their recent thumpings of Newcastle (50-24) and the Roosters (40-22).

The performance was particularly noteworthy given the Broncos ran onto Dairy Farmers without Queensland Origin quartet Justin Hodges, Petero Civoniceva, Sam Thaiday and Corey Parker.

"We've worked very hard, we've set a standard again for ourselves," Griffin said after the 12-point shutout.

"That's the important thing for us. Our performances have improved, we had a team out there good enough to win the football game, I thought the players out there set a standard on where we need to be and when the other players come back next week they will have to live up to that standard.

"I thought that was a better effort than last week (against the Roosters) physically and desperation-wise.

"I thought we let in a few soft tries last week, but it was pleasing to see their work ethic (against the Cowboys).

"They were honest, they never stopped giving in and on the night a few class guys (Cowboys duo Johnathan Thurston and Matt Bowen) put us away.

"If we'd had that same run of possession we probably would have got the points."

Such is the congested field in the title race, the third-placed Broncos (20 competition points) entered round 15 just four points ahead of the eighth-placed Cowboys.

Stand-in Broncos skipper Alex Glenn said the side could not afford to drop its standards of excellence as they prepare for a danger-game against a Greg Inglis-inspired Souths side this Friday night at Suncorp.

"It was definitely a courageous effort by the team," Glenn said of the Cowboys defeat.

"The guys covering the rep players really stepped up, everyone turned up for each other and there were patches of the second half that were crucial. Thurston and Bowen really stepped up and took their opportunities.

"We are definitely improving, everyone is showing the work ethic at training and turning up wanting to play for each other.

"Even though the result didn't go our way it was an improvement on last week."

Glenn lamented the Broncos' inability to shut down Bowen, who also broke Brisbane's hearts with a last-minute try to give the Cowboys a 28-26 victory in round two.

"He is really hard to stop, especially when you have a scattered line coming at him," he said.

"He's got some great footwork and is definitely one of the hardest players to tackle one-on-one.

"You can't present him a staggered line."