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A 79th-minute Valentine Holmes field goal has sealed an action packed 29-28 NRL win for North Queensland over the Warriors.

A 39-metre field goal by Valentine Holmes has sealed a memorable and action-packed win for North Queensland over the Warriors in Townsville.

Holmes was consistent all night for the Cowboys, only missing once off the tee from five attempts and bagging two try assists to go with four tackle breaks and 137 running metres.

But it was the fullback's showing in the dying stages of the match that will have Queensland selectors excited, as Holmes' presence of mind set up Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow to level the game, before nailing the match-winning drop goal.

While Holmes will be lauded for his second winning field goal of the year, coach Todd Payten praised his younger troops for their efforts on the night.

"A lot of our inexperienced guys were solid," he said.

"I thought Peter Hola was really strong for us with his involvements and Tom Gilbert was strong as well."

But in reflecting on another heart-stopping home game, Payten was more pleased with how it bodes for his side moving forward.

"I reckon the next two weeks had we lost that game would have been a tough time," Payten added.

"What it does is it sets us up to have a break, decompress and re-energize mentally and physically.

"Our guys deserve to enjoy what's ahead of us over the next couple of days, refresh and go again."

Warriors coach Nathan Brown was pleased with his side's effort but felt for his players who have now been on the wrong end of match-winning field goals twice this year.

"I'm quite happy we actually looked at scoring first, and then we were in a fine position to kick a field goal 20 metres out and we just didn't nail it," he said post-game.

"Val (Holmes) showed you why he gets paid a million bucks didn't he kicking one from 40 out and we had the same with Cherry-Evans against Manly.

"We just didn't get it right tonight when it really mattered ... (and) they got it right."

Trailing 28-22 with ten minutes to play, the Cowboys looked all but out of the contest following a 16-point second-half comeback by the visitors.

But when Holmes found Tabuai-Fidow in the 75th minute on halfway, the centre streaked away down the touchline before cutting inside to score, with the fullback making it a tied game with the conversion.

Coen Hess made a meal of his play the ball from the restart to gift the Warriors, who trailed 22-6 at halftime, a perfect opportunity to ice the game but Chanel Harris-Tavita missed a drop goal from right in front.

The hosts edged to within 30 metres of the Warriors line before Holmes slotted a field goal to secure the Cowboys' fifth straight win at home.