Blues coach Laurie Daley had no hesitation in throwing the Kangaroos representative back into the fray after he made his comeback from a drink driving incident in Sunday's 26-18 loss to the Canberra Raiders at Canberra Stadium.

The straight-shooting Tamou didn't rate his performance for a well-beaten Cowboys side and knows he needs to lift his game before running out on to ANZ Stadium on July 17.

He's desperate to repay his teammates after admitting he could barely watch the second game defeat in Brisbane.

''When I got suspended I sent a text out to the whole team, just apologising, saying sorry I let them down,'' Tamou said.

''Watching that game was just as hard … I was sitting in my house in the corner. I won't let this opportunity pass me by.''

Despite making 117 metres and 24 tackles, Tamou wants to return to the form that made him a certainty for game one.

''I'll roll my sleeves up and do everything I can for NSW,'' he said. ''Every time you get picked in a team like this, you can't dwell around and kick stones.

''You have to look to the next chapter, and that will be to play next Wednesday week.''

Another eager to return to their best will be Cowboys star Johnathan Thurston, after the Maroons playmaker had an unusually quiet afternoon.

Thurston's struggles in attack were compounded by the constant presence of the barnstorming Josh Papalii running at him at every chance.

The Raiders forward charged over the top of his Maroons teammate for a brilliant individual try.

Papalii was in everything and looms as an X-factor off the bench for the Maroons.

''We knew they would use him to gain momentum when they had the ball, and he just ran over the top of me one time, just embarrassing,'' Thurston said.

''One-on-one misses cost us. You can't compete when you have no desire in your defence.''

Thurston's struggles began after just two minutes when he had a kick charged down which led to Josh McCrone running 60m to score.

Despite a late rally, the Cowboys never recovered and fell to 6-10 for the season, leaving their finals hopes in disarray.

"We know they're fast starters,'' Thurston said. ''That first set of six, we didn't get a good kick away and they scored, we were on the back foot from there.''