North Queensland’s legendary halfback Johnathan Thurston says his team are wary of their slow starts and can ill afford the same in September against the top sides in the NRL.

“There’s no doubt we need to learn to start better and that’s what we’re concentrating on,” Thurston said.

“The really good teams – like the teams we’re coming up against in the next month – they won’t allow us to get back into the game.

“I’m still confident we can score points and we can play well if we are behind but when you’re playing against high-quality teams, once they’ve got their foot on your throat they don’t let it off.

“It starts getting a lot harder then, you start going for plays that aren’t there and start making errors.”