Furious North Queensland coach Paul Green will seek answers from the NRL over the physical treatment suffered by star halfback Johnathan Thurston.

Green could barely contain his anger following his team’s ugly 16-14 loss to Newcastle after Test star Thurston was left bruised, sore and able to see out of only one eye following several incidents.

Knights hardman Beau Scott was twice put on report after flattening the halfback without the ball in the 18th minute and then appearing to lift and drive him in a tackle in the second half, among several heavy shots on him.

Fellow Newcastle forward Jeremy Smith’s knee left Thurston with one side of his face bruised and swollen when he slid into a tackle, with the referees ruling the contact accidental.

Green was searching for ways to express his concern later, wary of the controversial new NRL laws preventing coaches from commenting on referees.

“I’ve really got to bite my tongue here, I don’t have a spare 10 grand,” said Green.

The coach vowed to go to the NRL seeking answers about the level of protection afforded to star players who were targeted by opposition in an attempt to nullify their attacking prowess.

“I need to, I’ve got a responsibility to stick up for my players,” Green said.

“Years ago, if that sort of thing happened, your teammates would deal with it on the field.

“But they (the NRL) clearly want to go in a direction where that doesn’t happen anymore.

“So then someone’s got to (deal with it).

“Go and have a look at (Thurston), he’s only got one eye open.

“I’m not crying about it, it’s a tough game we play.

“But you’re not allowed to throw punches and you’re not allowed to shoulder charge.

“I’m not saying we should be heading in that direction but it’s a physical game, at times it can be quite brutal and we need to be able to protect each other out there.”

Cowboys co-captain Matt Scott was clearly unhappy with Newcastle’s approach to Thurston.

“There’s no secret that you try and pressure other teams halves, but they’ve certainly pushed the boundaries tonight,” Scott said.

“They talk about protecting the players and then you see someone like Johno treated like that.”

Newcastle coach Rick Stone saw it as tough but fair competition.

“I think Johno (Thurston) competes hard and I think it’s our job to compete hard, that’s the game,” he said.

“Johno is one of the best competitors in the game and we made sure that we competed hard right across the park today.”

But North Queensland forward Gavin Cooper said the Cowboys players needed to do a better job of protecting their talisman.

“They did well, they took our best player out of the game,” Cooper said wryly.

“We’ve got to do a better job of recognising that and protecting him a little bit.”

To add insult to injury, Thurston will also face the attention of the Match Review Committee for a second week running after being placed on report for a tackle on a falling Akuila Uate which left the former Test winger with a bloodied nose.

In better news for the Cowboys, O’Neill was cleared of serious spinal injuries after he was stretchered from the field in the 18th minute.