Denan Kemp’s late try helped Brisbane avoid a shock come-from-behind defeat at North Queensland’s hands, the home side winning 30-24 in forgettable fashion at Lang Park on Friday night.

Ivan Henjak’s youthful line-up exploited hole after hole in the Cowboys’ defensive ranks in the first 40 minutes and the Broncos stormed into half-time with a 20-point buffer looking as good as unstoppable.

But North Queensland turned up the intensity after the break and scored 24 points in 23 minutes with superstar half-back Johnathan Thurston leading the charge.

Thurston marshalled his troops using crafty ball movement and was at times devastatingly nimble on his feet as he created tries for Ty Williams, Ashley Graham and Willie Tonga.

The exciting number seven then crossed for a four-pointer of his own and Brisbane was suddenly staring down the barrel of a defeat it never saw coming.

Luckily for the raucous home crowd, Kemp got his hands on the football with five minutes to go and streaked away down the right-hand touchline to put the Broncos back in front for the last time.

Corey Parker slotted home the last of his five goals to stretch the margin to six, but Brisbane still had a fight on its hands as the Cowboys could still taste blood.

The visitors’ last-minute charges could not get them over the line though, and the Broncos escaped with the points.

Willie Mason was quiet in his regular season debut for the Cowboys, adding seven tackles and six hit-ups to his 56 metres gained.

He did not enter the fray until the 30th minute of the first half, and did so to boos from the Brisbane crowd.

Youth policy

Ivan Henjak’s fresh-faced approach to the Queensland derby saw Corey Norman start at full-back, Gerard Beale in the centres and Matt Gillett making an impact off the bench.

It paid dividends for the home side, which stormed into half-time a long way ahead after coming into round one at $21 to win the premiership.

The first 40 minutes was when the youth brigade really shone; Norman displayed some electric footwork and his attacking momentum surely doing enough to earn him a sustained look into the starting side in the coming weeks.

Queensland Cup player of the year for 2009 Gillett had the most fruitful outing for the baby Broncos, scoring a try on debut and making hit-ups reminiscent of departed forward David Taylor.

But it was Brisbane’s stalwarts that did the early damage. Israel Folau scored the home side’s first four-pointer of the year when he crossed in the right corner after 19 minutes in contentious circumstances.

The video referee deliberated on the play, seemingly looking for a possible obstruction of Willie Tonga by Sam Thaiday, but the try was awarded.

There was no doubt about the next points as captain Darren Lockyer dived over in typical fashion after having a hand in the ball movement earlier in the play out wide on the left-hand side.

Brisbane: 30 (I Folau, D Lockyer, M Gillett, A Glenn, D Kemp tries; C Parker 4 conversions, penalty goal)

North Queensland: 24 (T Williams, A Graham, W Tonga, J Thurston tries; Thurston 4 conversions)