North Queensland Cowboys record 12-0 NRL round 15 win against Brisbane Broncos at Dairy Farmers Stadium

THIS was State of Origin all over again. Made purely in Queensland as the Cowboys scored a 12-0 win against the Brisbane Broncos.

Broncos v Cowboys

THIS was State of Origin all over again. Made purely in Queensland.

Just 48 hours earlier, NSW and the Maroons had submitted an Origin classic. It was brutal. The rugby league world watched in dismay, convinced the 13-man game couldn't get any better.

Then the Broncos and North Queensland run onto Dairy Farmers Stadium and give us another epic.

In one of the most pulsating club contests in recent memory, the long-time rivals swung like desperate heavyweight boxers before the Cowboys landed two late knockout blows to floor the Broncos 12-0 in a fierce Queensland derby.

For 60 minutes, scores were remarkably locked at nil-all. Then Cowboys livewire Matt Bowen produced his magic, setting up tries to Gavin Cooper (61st minute) and Kane Linnett (75th minute) to complete an emphatic shutout of the Broncos.

The importance of the win could not be understated. The home side temporarily moved to fourth on percentages, while the Broncos dropped to third after the Bulldogs beat the Dragons last night at WIN Stadium.

And if Maroons coach Mal Meninga is looking for a fullback replacement for the injured Billy Slater for Origin III, he could do worse than send an SOS for Bowen, who is in the best form of his career.

The Queensland derby may have lacked some star power with the loss of Maroons stars Justin Hodges, Sam Thaiday, Corey Parker and Petero Civoniceva, but the showdown was truly gladiatorial.

Played at a crackerjack pace, the opening stanza had everything. Desperate defence. End-to-end action. Bone-jarring collisions. Superb individual plays. And a host of near misses that saw the fierce Queensland rivals go to the sheds remarkably locked at nil-all.

The opening exchanges were fierce and set the tone for a night of desperation and sheer grit.

Even without some of their big guns, the Broncos looked dominant and sharp. Halfback Peter Wallace sliced through in the 15th minute, only to be denied the opening try after Ben Hannant took out Johnathan Thurston off the ball.

Cowboys hardman Ashton Sims then paid the price for his aggression in the 18th minute when he was put on report for a swinging arm on Hannant, who looked shaken as he rose to his feet.

Points may have been thin on the ground but there was no shortage of individual brilliance.

At just 20, and playing his second NRL game, Broncos winger Lachlan Maranta was ice cool, superbly taking two bombs under pressure.

Cowboys workhorse Dallas Johnson made 30 tackles in 40 minutes. Tamou flexed his 113kg of muscle off interchange. Thurston dummied, probed and schemed. And if there was a defining symbol for the contest, it was the fullback duel between Josh Hoffman and Matt Bowen, whose fusion of hard-running and backfield skill underscored the quality of athleticism at Dairy Farmers.

The Cowboys' best chance of the first half came five minutes before the break, when Matt Bowen read the overlap and released a trybound Kane Linnett. But with the line beckoning, Gerard Beale pulled off a superb tackle to set up a pulsating second half.