It may just be the ultimate exercise in reverse psychology. But Brisbane coach Ivan Henjak believes the battling Cowboys could be better for the loss of superstar halfback Johnathan Thurston.

The Broncos travel to Townsville for the Friday night derby to meet a North Queensland side already bleeding from 10 straight failures, before the loss of skipper Thurston this week delivered a near fatal blow.

Thurston looks likely to miss a month of football after undergoing knee surgery. Brisbane captain Darren Lockyer admitted he was relieved not to be facing the dangerous Thurston but Henjak warned the absence of the Maroons star could stir the Cowboys to new heights.

With Brisbane almost back to full strength and North Queensland running on the smell of an oily rag, his contention that the Cowboys remain a dangerous beast needs some digesting.

But Henjak said Brisbane was still to shake off the rust - and a dose of complacency - that curtailed their performance in a surprise home loss to the Bulldogs last weekend.

"They (North Qld) can look at it this way. There's no pressure on them. They're not expected to win. They've lost 10 in a row. This is probably the one game where they can redeem themselves and go all out, throw caution to the wind and have a real good crack at us," Henjak said.

"So I can see Thurston not being there as a little bit of a positive and a few of those other guys realising they have to take a bit more responsibility."

Brisbane's playing stocks have been thinned with the loss of lock Tonie Carroll, causing a reshuffle that sees Corey Parker start at lock and Ashton Sims promoted from the bench to the backrow. David Stagg returns to the bench and is replaced in the centres by Joel Moon.

For the Cowboys, the returning Travis Burns has the arduous task of covering the vacancy left by Thurston.

The Broncos, who are missing only Justin Hodges and Carroll from their best line-up, have been read a few lines of the riot act this week after Henjak admitted there was some complacent attitudes in the locker room before kick-off against the Dogs.

"We were expected to win and we came up short, whether it was because were were a little bit rusty or whether it was complacency," Henjak said.

"As much as you talk about a team's going to be tough to play, in the back of their minds, players are thinking it's a game they should win.

"I think we need to send a really strong message this week, both to ourselves and the Cowboys, that we're here to play and really want to win.

"We've been quite honest with each other. The players knew they underperformed last week. It wasn't a purge or anything like that. We were just honest."

Cowboys coach Ian Millward said he spoke to Burns, who is returning from suspension, and outlined what was expected of him on the field.

"People don't change overnight but I'm pretty confident he understands what we want," he said.

"He's pretty excited about the challenge."

While Millward acknowledged the danger posed by Lockyer, he said he would not be over analysing him.

"I really believe coaches can spend too much time being obsessed with him," he said.

"He's not our major issue tomorrow night. That's making sure our attack has some fluency with a new halfback and that defensively we can cope with the pressure Lockyer, Wallace and Hunt put your under."

- with AAP