Andrew McCullough will start as hooker in Friday night’s NRL clash with North Queensland as Brisbane look to bounce back from their disappointing season-opening loss.

Coach Wayne Bennett did not expect McCullough to start for another month in his return from a serious knee injury and had the rake on the bench in their opening round 34-12 thrashing from St George Illawarra.

But McCullough said he would run out against the Cowboys after Brisbane’s experiment with back-rower Sam Thaiday at rake backfired against the Dragons.

“Once I got into the game (against Dragons) I got confidence out of it and put my hand up to start (against Cowboys) – it’s what is best for the team,” he said.

Brisbane assistant Kevin Walters admitted Thaiday at hooker “didn’t work”.

“He (Thaiday) didn’t have one of his better nights,” Walters told Sky Sports Radio.

“It just didn’t work. Sometimes it doesn’t work the way you want it to and that was the case for the Broncos.

“Hopefully we can move on from that and McCullough will be better for the run.”

Brisbane have allayed fears over captain Darius Boyd (hamstring) and back-rower Matt Gillett (neck) who had limited time with the main group on Monday.

Bennett wasn’t happy on Monday, flogging the squad in an extended session while rattling off a few rare f-bombs at his players.

“He’s just a bit angry because he knows what we can produce,” McCullough said of their cranky coach.

“When we don’t do that and play stupid football it doesn’t make for an enjoyable Monday.”