Jonathan Thurston and the referee had a puzzling conversation during the Cowboys' 32-16 win over Parramatta in Townsville on Saturday night.

The North Queensland halfback appeared to query the score when lining up to kick a penalty goal in the 66th minute after Eels pivot Corey Norman was sin-binned for a professional foul.

The Cowboys were trailing 16-14 at the time.

He was asking about the amount of tries and conversions the visitors had racked up, but the man with the whistle wasn't much help at all.

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"I dunno mate," said the ref when asked about the Eels' conversion attempts. "I just put my hand up or wave them away."

JT: He missed his first two didn't he?

REF: I dunno, my memory's not that good.

JT: They've scored three tries haven't they?

REF: Look on the scoreboard mate.

The exchange had everyone puzzled.

"Is he disputing the score?" asked Fox Sports commentator Greg Alexander.

"We're in Townsville. I don't think they're going to be adding points to the Parramatta score."