It's the NRL equivalent of bald men fighting over a comb but Gold Coast are currently Queensland's best rugby league team in 2020 after a 30-10 win over North Queensland.
The Titans snapped a 10-game losing streak against the Cowboys in style at CBUS Super Stadium on Sunday, racing to a six-tries-to-two win in arguably their best display under coach Justin Holbrook.
The win lifts the Titans above the Cowboys into 13th on the ladder.
With Brisbane languishing below both clubs in 15th after their run of 10 defeats from their past 11 matches, the Titans are above their Queensland rivals for the first time past round 12 of a season since 2013.
"Obviously as Queensland teams we're not performing well but it is good to be top of the Queensland sides that's for sure," Titans coach Justin Holbrook said.
"We do want to get more wins and want to keep going now.
"We're playing good, we're getting better and we want to keep doing that."
The Titans were sensational in the opening 40 minutes, charging to 20-0 lead as the Cowboys imploded.
Fullback AJ Brimson, playing in his second match back from injury, scored a first-half double as the Titans dominated possession and territory.
The Cowboys were as bad as the Titans were good in the opening period, with captain Michael Morgan having a day to forget on his return from the shoulder injury that had kept him sidelined since March.
Morgan had five missed tackles in the opening term, two of which led directly to Titans' tries.
He was also pinged for an escort penalty late in the half, with the Titans going on to score through Brimson from the resulting set.
In total the Cowboys had a paltry 59 per cent completion rate for the half, missing 23 tackles and making seven errors.
The loss is the Cowboys' sixth in a row, the first time they've been on such a stretch of poor form since 2010.
Interim coach Josh Hannay said there was no excuse for his team's opening half performance.
"They did the jersey and the club a disservice with some of the football that was put out there in that first half," Hannay said.
"I don't want to take any credit away from the Titans because they played a really good game but we were horrible."
Titans captain Kevin Proctor produced a moment to remember early in the second half when he batted back a kick that had gone over the dead ball line for Brian Kelly to score.
The Cowboys then threatened a comeback when Kyle Feldt and Justin O'Neill scored back-to-back tries but when Phillip Sami scored in the 69th minute the contest was over.
Gold Coast will look to build on their win on Saturday when they travel to Sydney to play Cronulla while the Cowboys take on South Sydney in Townsville.
Australian Associated Press
