'He nearly stopped the f***ing try': Thurston blows up over controversial eight-point try

Jonathon Thurston has blown up after teammate Te Maire Martin gave away a contentious penalty, leading to an eight-point try for the Brisbane Broncos in Queensland derby.

The North Queensland fullback, Martin, kneed Brisbane forward Matthew Lodge in the head during his attempt to stop the try.

The on-field referees referred the decision to the bunker, who quickly awarded the try as well as a penalty, and then put Martin on report for the dangerous attempt.

Thurston was absolutely gutted at the decision, and didn’t hide his frustration.

“He nearly stopped the f****** try,” Thurston protested to referee.

The decision was a crucial one for the Broncos who had their backs against the wall as the Cowboys ran riot early in the first-half.

And it had social media users watching the game split in their opinions.

Despite the blow up, Thurston produced a moment of magic in his last NRL derby to set up Coen Hess and give North Queensland a crucial victory.

North Queensland were down with three minutes on the clock, before Thurston’s kick sat up awkwardly for Anthony Milford and into the gleeful arms of Hess to give the hosts a 34-30 victory at home.

In a match where momentum swung wildy, the Cowboys dominated the early stages as tries from Gideon Gela-Mosby and Jason Taumalolou gave them a 12-point lead midway through the first half.

The next four tries of the game all came to the visitors with James Roberts, Matt Lodge, Korbin Sims and Tevita Pangai Junior all getting on the board before Kyle Feldt, Gavin Cooper and Hess scored for the home side.

Te Maire Martin angled a superb kick for Gela-Mosby to down the ball for a try and after Darius Boyd lost the ball in a tackle, Taumalolou outran Milford for a second.

James Roberts turned the game by collecting an intercept pass from Martin and racing just under 90 metres to half the deficit.

In a mixed night for Thurston, a cross-field kick in his own half led to a knock on from Gala-Mosby and from the next set Matt Lodge scored for the Broncos.

It was an eight-point try for Martin’s contact with Lodge’s head as he was grounding the ball.

A 55m penalty from Kyle Feldt on the stroke of half time gave the Cowboys an 18-16 half time lead, but Sims surging over from close range and then Pangai Junior burst through the line 20m out to seemingly end the game.

The Cowboys had other ideas though and Feldt dived over in the corner and then Matt Scott set up Gavin Cooper to power over the line before yet another late intervention from Thurston in a Queensland derby saw his side triumph.

The loss for Brisbane means the Wests Tigers can move to within two points of the Broncos if they beat Canberra on Sunday.