'The referee's just too scared to blow a penalty'

Johnathan Thurston launched an extraordinary attack on the officials after North Queensland's thrilling one-point loss to Melbourne.

The Cowboys skipper was fuming after he was denied the chance to tie the game with a field goal by what he thought was an offside Cameron Smith.

With his side down 15-14 late in their clash on Saturday night, Smith raced at Thurston from marker and forced his counterpart to abandon his planned shot at one point.

The Cowboys never got back in good enough field position to try another, and Thurston was not happy post-match.

"I don't know whether Smithy was square", he said. "The referee's just too scared to blow a penalty there."