Harawira-Naera's second-half double proved the difference as Canterbury provisionally lifted themselves off the bottom of the ladder and showed up their more fancied opponents even without key men Dylan Napa and Kieran Foran.

On both tries he ran lovely lines to split the Cowboys' defence before he pulled off a try-saver on opposite back-rower Gavin Cooper to stop a potential North Queensland fightback dead in its tracks.

However, he revealed how he went into the sheds with his head down after missing a key tackle on Michael Morgan which resulted in his teammates laying down the law."I knew I played poor in the first-half," Harawira-Naera said.

"You don't need to be a genius to know that you shouldn't let a linebreak through.

"I was getting told out there 'if you don't bloody do anything he's going to hook you'. It was a reaction thing. I wanted to play better for the team."

And when he came into the sheds at halftime, Pay singled him out in front of the entire playing group.

But instead of letting his coach's hard words get to him, they lit a fire under him.

"He pulled me up in front of the team and I'm all for that if I'm not playing up to standard" Harawira-Naera said.

"I let Morgs through once. It was up to me in the second half and I did a better job."

The Auckland native came to the Dogs from Penrith on a four-year deal and showed signs on Friday night he was ready to step up to be a forward leader.

Last year, Penrith general manager of football Phil Gould was reduced to tears while speaking on stage at the club's end-of-season function about Harawira-Naera's exit.

The 23-year-old revealed he had reached out to Gould - who this week announced he was leaving the Panthers - in the wake of the club's sex tape scandal to check on his welfare knowing that his former boss had been hit hard by the saga.

"I hear fans hammering him about letting players go and coaches but all the stuff he has done, it doesn't go unnoticed by the players that have been under him," Harawira-Naera said.

"I was going to go do a trade if it wasn't for him, he brought me over and gave me an opportunity.

"If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here."

Australian Associated Press