Johnathan Thurston 'shattered' after slow start terminates Cowboys' season

North Queensland legend Johnathan Thurston has lamented the side's slow start in their 26-18 semi-final loss to the Cronulla Sharks on Friday night.

After mounting a late resurgence to come within eight points of the Sharks at full-time, the Cowbow will rue a sluggish start that saw the hosts pile on four unanswered tries in the opening half.

While the Cowboys held the Sharks scoreless in the second half, a first-half double to five-eighth Braydon Trindall was enough to book the Sharks a place in next weekend's preliminary finals.

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Speaking post match, Thurston blamed the side's slow start for their defeat.

"You just can't afford to start like that," he told Nine's coverage.

Asked whether the Cowboys had achieved a "pass or fail" for their performance this season, Thurston believed the team deserved a pass mark despite their inconsistency.

"I'm just a little bit shattered for them because I thought they had come down here to have a red-hot crack," he said.

"But where you finish the season is probably a reflection of how you played throughout the year and the inconsistency of the Cowboys has come back to bite them again.

"While they've been good in parts of the game, they have really struggled to put a complete 80-minute performance [together].

"When you are in the post-season, playing against the better sides, you can't afford to have the errors that they had. You can't afford to be behind 24-0 at half time. And I think it's just a true reflection of their season and the inconsistency of it."

After a dominant first half of football, Cronulla led by four converted tries to the likes of Trindall and Blayke Brailey in attack and the side's forwards in defence.

Speaking during the half-time break, Thurston encouraged his former side to keep the faith despite the margin on the scoreboard and the occasion of the final.

"First I'd be telling them, give me their eyes and if they don't believe they can come back, go and have a shower now," he said.

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"That's not Cowboys type of football.

"They need to get back to competing, running hard, doing the simple things right. They're getting down the field all right but when they're in [the] attacking zone they're nine, seven, six and one look like they haven't played together.

"They need some belief now because they're down 24-0. They just got to reset, don't worry about the scoreboard, play that Cowboy style of footy, move the ball, punch through the middle, and hopefully they can get some strike out wide."

In the Cowboys' first final against the Knights, the side "got out of jail" after another slow start.