There was not a conspiracy theory in sight when North Queensland ousted Brisbane 32-20 in their NRL elimination final clash in Townsville on Saturday night.

Understandably paranoid after refereeing howlers ended their finals campaign the last two years, the Cowboys left nothing to chance.

They took matters into their own hands and rushed to a 24-0 halftime lead before finally putting away their Queensland rivals in front of a delirious 25,120-strong home crowd.

In 2004, North Queensland came of age when they downed Brisbane for the first time in a semi-final in Townsville.

Fast forward 10 years and the Cowboys looked to have made another bold statement against their old foes, defying a horror finals history to stake a serious claim as NRL title threats.

Still, North Queensland would have been forgiven for feeling paranoid when they arrived on Saturday night.

First there was the undetected “Hand of Foran” knock-on that sparked Manly’s 22-12 semi-final win over North Queensland in 2012.

A year later and the Cowboys were screaming blue murder again, even conjuring Sydney-centric conspiracy theories, when a seventh tackle try sparked Cronulla’s 20-18 finals win over North Queensland.

However, they had tongues wagging for all the right reasons on Saturday night when they ended coach Anthony Griffin’s Broncos tenure with their eighth win in nine games.

It marked the Cowboys’ third straight NRL finals win over Brisbane in Townsville since that fateful day 10 years ago.

The Cowboys remarkably led 24-0 at halftime after at one stage scoring at a point a minute.

North Queensland had the packed crowd on their feet when Gavin Cooper (ninth minute), Kane Linnett (12th) and pivot Robert Lui (19th) crossed to ensure the Cowboys juggernaut led 18-0 after 19 minutes.

Backrower Cooper had a double by the 38th minute as a shellshocked Brisbane went into the sheds wondering what they had to do to save their season.

Whatever Griffin – to be replaced by Wayne Bennett next season – said at halftime worked as Brisbane came out a different team.

Fullback Justin Hodges was everywhere as Ben Barba (51st) crossed before last-minute centre selection Jordan Kahu (54th, 62nd) bagged a double to almost silence the crowd – almost.

Cowboys backrower Tariq Sims appeared lucky to remain on the field when placed on report for a late hit on Hodges in the lead-up to Kahu’s second try.

Sims’ contact opened a nasty head cut on Hodges, who required treatment on the sidelines.

Broncos winger Daniel Vidot’s 72nd try made it officially interesting but North Queensland were not to be denied.

Broncos forward Ben Hannant was placed on report for high contact on Michael Morgan in the 70th minute.