Thurston dazzles Bulldogs Triumphant: Gavin Cooper after scoring a try. Johnathan Thurston started the season with a stunning display, leading North Queensland to a 24-12 win at Bluetongue Stadium on Saturday night. Thurston was sublime while the Bulldogs struggled for punch without superstars Ben Barba, Frank Pritchard, James Graham and Sam Kasiano. Even if the star quartet played, it might have done little to nullify Thurston, such was the Cowboys co-captain's mood. Thurston is set to celebrate his match-winning performance on Saturday by inking a contract extension that will have him finish his career in North Queensland. Cowboys coach Neil Henry said he expected a decision some time this week but was confident he would reject a large offer from Penrith to sign on. "There's a bit of clarity about the whole thing now," Henry said. The gut feeling all along is that he will stay. We'll get a decision this week. There has been no deadline on it. Thurston laid on three first-half tries - despite not featuring in any of the Cowboys' pre-season fixtures - against a Bulldogs side which still featured 10 players from last year's grand final loss to Melbourne. Despite being named to replace Barba at fullback, Steve Turner found himself on the left wing with Drury Low making his Bulldogs debut at the back. Turner was in the thick of the action early, spilling a Thurston bomb under heavy pressure from centre Brent Tate, with last season's equal leading try-scorer Ashley Graham crossing with his first touch of the season. A rare mistake from Thurston's boot sent the ball out on the full from almost an identical position in the ensuing set. That error gave the Bulldogs their first set of six of the season and they capitalised. A pass from a sweeping Low on the right edge bounced off a defending Antonio Winterstein before Canterbury's Josh Reynolds swooped on the loose ball to score. A Krisnan Inu conversion gave the Bulldogs a 6-4 lead after just seven minutes. The ball movement that became a trademark of the Bulldogs' surge last season was again on display when Turner benefited from an exchange of passing in the middle of the field and speed from centre Josh Morris to crash over in the corner. With their first attacking set inside Canterbury's 20 since scoring in the opening minutes of the game, a Thurston dummy split a rushing Bulldogs defence before offloading to back-rower Gavin Cooper to score midway through the first half. Thurston was again at his scheming best with a grubber kick early in the set. It went in behind a compressed Bulldogs defensive line, gifting Winterstein a four-pointer when he flew past his opposite winger Sam Perrett. The Australian pivot kicked the goal from the sideline for the Cowboys to take a 16-12 lead. A 10-minute pause in points in the first half ended three minutes before the break when a Thurston penalty goal gave North Queensland an 18-12 half-time lead after an opening half where both teams struggled with ball control and spacing in defence. While the first half was headlined by poor defensive reads, it was poor ball handling that littered the opening 20 minutes of the second half. When the Cowboys finally found rhythm fullback Matt Bowen laid on another try with a cut-out pass to Graham, who got outside Turner to score. NORTH QUEENSLAND 24 (A Graham 2 G Cooper A Winterstein tries J Thurston 4 goals) bt BULLDOGS 12 (J Reynolds S Turner tries K Inu 2 goals) at Bluetongue Stadium. Referee: Gavin Morris, Jason Robinson. Crowd: 11,627.