BRISBANE will field one of the youngest and most inexperienced first-round teams in their history on Friday night - and the Cowboys have vowed to turn up the heat.

WILLIE Mason is on the bench. Lote Tuqiri will start for the Tigers. And a whole batch of rookies are set to debut. Check out the full teams for round one. 

RABBITOHS v Roosters. Broncos v North Queensland. Parramatta v St George Illawarra. These are some of the not-to-be-missed blockbusters from the opening six rounds.

JARRYD Hayne wasn't listening when the suits started their speeches. He wasn't even in the room. He was performing tricks with the footy with Michael Jennings.

WILLIE Mason ramped up his bid for inclusion in the Cowboys' round-one derby blockbuster against the Brisbane Broncos with a strong second trial hitout at the weekend.

IT seems Johnathan Thurston's $2 million-plus contract talks aren't enough, with the star Cowboys half launching an unprecedented ransom demand on the NRL.

HE ALREADY sits ahead of Willie Mason in North Queensland's pecking order. Now Cowboy Steve Rapira has boldly set his sights on outmuscling the Kangaroos.

PLAYER manager Sam Ayoub has lashed out at the "ARU fools" who claim Cowboys star Johnathan Thurston is not worth his $700,000-a-season asking price.

BIG Willie Mason faces an uphill battle to earn selection for the Cowboys' NRL season-opening derby stoush with the Broncos, and may have to play reserves.

WILLIE Mason is struggling to adjust to North Queensland's brutal summer temperatures. But he has help from his young clone, fellow ex-Rooster James Tamou.

THE Roosters are enjoying a massive surge in memberships since controversial forward Willie Mason officially left the club to head north 11 days ago.

DESPITE the physical test results for NRL players being closely guarded by their clubs, we can reveal which footy player is the strongest in the league.

FIREBRAND Cowboys forward Carl Webb has slammed critics questioning how seriously players are taking tonight's All Stars clash at Skilled Park on the Gold Coast.

FED-UP NRL chief executive David Gallop has put troubled Willie Mason squarely back in his box over the controversial forward's most recent bizarre tirade.

INDIGENOUS All Stars halfback Johnathan Thurston has orchestrated plenty of footballing masterpieces - and now he will be playing under one this Saturday.

CYCLONE Willie is due to hit Townsville tomorrow but not before a breezy farewell in Sydney. He met Roosters starts Anthony Minichiello and Nate Myles for breakfast.

DAYS after having no NRL future, Willie Mason now has the luxury of two offers on the table for 2010 with the Cowboys board clearing the way for Mason to head north.

JARRYD Hayne had to battle past Parramatta teammate Fuifui Moimoi to secure a spot in the All Stars clash - but he wasn't the most popular choice among fans.

A MANUFACTURER'S stand-off could prevent halves Johnathan Thurston and Jamie Soward from donning special edition numbers in next month's Indigenous All Stars clash.

FORGET Karmichael Hunt or Jarryd Hayne - superstar Johnathan Thurston is the NRL player that former Sydney Swans great Paul Kelly believes could make it in AFL.

FANS say Willie Mason has a big mouth and it now seems the game's captains agree, with Mason narrowly edging out Anthony Watmough as the NRL's best sledger.

NORTH Queensland's star NRL recruit Willie Mason will make his Cowboys debut off the bench against Brisbane on Friday night. Full team named

GOLDEN try, restart play from the 30-metre line if the ball is kicked dead, allow a set of six to be completed after fulltime. They are some of the changes fans want.

HAVE the Cowboys bought a lemon? Fans who completed The Daily Telegraph's online fan survey certainly believe so, voting him the NRL's most overrated player.

A LATE shot by Gold Coast star Greg Bird on North Queensland's Johnathan Thurston has left the Titans sweating on the availability of their major recruit.

WILLIE Mason has only been at the Cowboys for a couple of weeks, but he has already met his match - in the form of a 1000kg movie star crocodile.

THE Daily Telegraph today launches its 2010 NRL Fans Survey. We're giving you the chance to have some real input into the game before season starts. Fans Survey

THE Australian Rugby Union has pulled out of the chase for Johnathan Thurston - telling the rugby league superstar: "You're just not worth $2 million."

THE Cowboys' bid to lock away skipper Johnathan Thurston before the start of the season has suffered a setback with the Test No. 7 again considering a switch to rugby union.

NORTH Queensland Cowboys have named their controversial big-name recruit Willie Mason for the first of two NRL trial games in Cairns on Saturday.

JOHNATHAN Thurston is yet to decide if he has played his last match for the Indigenous All Stars, but says: "The concept will be around for many years to come." 

THE Wests Tigers kicked off their 2010 season with a convincing 28-4 win over North Queensland at Mackay in a match played in muddy conditions.

NORTH Queensland captain Johnathan Thurston says his new teammates will keep Willie Mason out of the front-page headlines and at his destructive best this season.

WILLIE Mason has taken a swipe at the board members who rejected him at several NRL clubs, calling them "fat businessmen" who shouldn't make decisions.

HELPING to deliver North Queensland their maiden NRL premiership is high on new recruit Willie Mason's agenda as he prepares to settle into his new life.

HE'S always been a cowboy by nature, now Willie Mason is a Cowboy by name after accepting a one-year NRL lifeline from North Queensland. Video, poll

RUGBY league vagrant Willie Mason will have to sell himself to Cowboys' coach Neil Henry when they "chat" about the discarded Roosters' NRL future tomorrow.

WILLIE Mason has landed in the last-chance saloon with the North Queensland Cowboys, who are considering making the offer that eight clubs have failed to muster.

WHEN league bosses open negotiations for a new TV rights deal this year, they should be armed with these compelling figures of the code's popularity on the box.

NORTH Queensland Cowboys head coach Neil Henry has quit as Mal Meninga's right-hand man with the Queensland State of Origin team to focus solely on the NRL.