Brisbane Broncos held on to spoil North Queensland Cowboys' housewarming party with a 28-21 victory on Friday, while Canberra Raiders crushed Gold Coast Titans in their NRL season opener.

The Cowboys' first competitive match at their new Queensland Country Bank Stadium saw four tries before half-time - two for each side - with Valentine Holmes crashing over for the hosts on his return to rugby league after a stint in NFL.

But the Broncos pulled clear by running in three more tries in the space of 20 minutes after the restart, David Fifita scoring the pick of them with an impressive solo effort.

Despite late efforts from Gavin Cooper and Ben Hampton, the visitors saw the match through to kick off their campaign in winning style.

Earlier, Jack Wighton starred to help the Raiders start 2020 the way they finished last season as they cruised to a 24-6 win over the Titans at the GIO Stadium.

Australia international Wighton took advantage of the Titans' weak defence to score twice in the opening 13 minutes and Emre Guler bagged his first NRL try after half an hour.

Elliott Whitehead rounded off the try scoring for the Raiders - aiming to improve on their grand final defeat last time out  - after Anthony Don had pulled one back for Gold Coast.