Nathan Cleary has willed Penrith to the top of the the NRL ladder after leading his team to an unconvincing 22-10 win over a plucky North Queensland.

The Cowboys were poised to pull off one of the upsets of the season when debutant Daejarn Asi gave his side the lead early in the second half on Sunday.

But Cleary dragged Penrith to victory with a series of inspiring defensive plays, including a jolting shot on Cowboys behemoth Coen Hess, and a flash of attacking magic.

The 22-year-old also saved his team from a line dropout late in the contest when he beat two defenders in his in-goal and launched himself back into the field of play.

The NSW State of Origin star completed an impressive individual performance by sealing the two competition points with a solo try on the final play of the game.

The signs looked ominous for North Queensland when Penrith centre Stephen Crichton batted back for Jarome Luai to score in the fifth minute.

But that was all the Panthers were able to muster in the first half, with their attack stuttering against a stubborn Cowboys defence.

The home side had almost double North Queensland’s 24 plays inside the opposition 20-metre zone, but struggled to create genuine opportunities.

Their inability to convert their possession only encouraged the visitors, who went into halftime level after some individual magic from Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow.

The rookie fullback latched onto a Esan Marsters offload inside his own half before beating seven defenders on a scintillating run to the south-east corner.

It was another youngster in Asi who gave the Cowboys the lead upon resumption, slicing through to stun the capped crowd of 2891.

Scores were locked again when Panthers winger Brent Naden crossed soon after, before Cleary tried to inspire his side with consecutive big defensive shots.

His second resulted in an error by Hess, and then Tyrone May offloaded for Crichton to reclaim the lead in the 59th minute.

North Queensland tried hard to push the game into golden point, however Penrith held on to claim their eighth win from their opening 10 games of the season.

The loss for the Cowboys was compounded by firebrand Josh McGuire being put on report for a high shot on Panthers prop James Fisher-Harris in the first half.

Panthers duo Dean Whare (thigh) and Dylan Edwards (hamstring) both failed to finish the match, leaving coach Ivan Cleary with 15 players in the final 20 minutes.