RISK TAKERS

Drags get crowds revved up Queensland will take a chance with an injured JT for Origin I PRIDE’S BEST CENTRE

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FULL STORY PAGE 33 KEVIN Walters last night declared he will roll the dice with Johnathan Thurston and select the injured champion playmaker for Origin I.

The Cowboys yesterday issued a vague press statement which refused to divulge the nature of the shoulder injury Thurston suffered in the Anzac Test.

But News Corp can reveal Thurston has suffered a minor tear of his rotator cuff, an injury that requires a two-to-four week rehabilitation.

The injury should see Thurston miss the next two games for the Cowboys but it is expected he could be fit for the first game of his final Origin series on May 31.

The Maroons team for Origin I is named on Monday week and Walters said he was prepared to emulate Australia coach Mal Meninga by taking an injured Thurston into camp for around-the-clock treatment.

“I’ll be giving Johnathan every chance,” Walters said. “It’s still early days and, like the Cowboys, we won’t know how he’s progressing until he gets into his recovery.

“But we’re talking about ‘JT’ (Thurston). He showed he was able to get himself right for the Test match (with an unrelated calf injury) and we’ll bring him into camp and give him every opportunity to prove his fitness.

“Ultimately, we’ll be guided by the medicos but I won’t be writing him off at this stage.”

Thurston suffered the injury in the dying minutes of Friday’s Anzac Test, which was his first game since early April, after he was sidelined with a calf issue.

“Whilst it’s not ideal going into Origin without too many games under your belt, John showed the other night that he can still be very effective for his team,” Walters said. “He’s smart enough as well to understand that if he’s not 100 per cent fit or close to it, then he shouldn’t be playing.

“Given it could be his last series, you’d like to think he’d get at least a couple of games in for the mighty Maroons before he rides off into the sunset.”

While Walters was pleased to hear that Thurston could be back on the field as soon as Game One, the Cowboys will be disappointed to lose their star player for at least another two weeks. CONTINUED PAGE 35

www.cairnspost.com.au CHRIS Keeper and his XW Falcon were a part of the record numbers who flocked to the Springmount Raceway for the second edition of the Northern Nats. Around 10,000 people visited Springmount Raceway in Mareeba for the event which...

IN DOUBT: Johnathan Thurston.