JT’S ALL OVER
LEAGUE STAR’S FINAL MATCH
COWBOYS players couldn’t have predicted they’d soon be playing with a modern day great the first day Johnathan Thurston rocked up.
The skinny, 21-year-old Canterbury recruit arrived in a beat up car, his seat pushed so far back he could barely see over the bonnet, a backwards cap on his head.
Asked if he thought he’d be made captain of his new club just two years later in 2007, Thurston laughs and shakes his head.
“No. Definitely not,” he said. “I was always one of the boys. I liked to have a good time. Footy was footy.
“I really had to change my outlook on life once I’d been made captain.
“My lifestyle (was the biggest change needed). I’ve obviously been caught out a couple of times with some of the choices I’ve made.”
Season 2010 was the turning point for the champion halfback, who will farewell the game against Gold Coast Titans at Robina today.
The Cowboys board had voted to sack him after an alcohol related incident in Brisbane.
But chairman Laurence Lancini and football manager Peter Parr went to bat for Thurston, declaring they would walk out the door if they cut him loose.
It was the best decision the club has ever made.
“That was probably the turning point, a couple of those things,” Thurston said.
“While I had little misdemeanours at the club, there wasn’t anything like what I had gone through (that year).
“The club’s had a massive role in my life, not only on it but certainly off it as well.
“I moved here as a 21-yearold, as a kid, and it certainly helped me with a lot of things.
“The last eight years have been pretty special. I think I’ve grown a lot and really understand my role in the community, and try and make it a better place.”
Success came quicker than even Thurston could have hoped. He won the first of four Dally M medals in his first Cowboys season in 2005, guided the team to a maiden grand final and made his State of Origin debut.
In just 12 months he’d risen from a playmaker who had moved up from Sydney simply for a shot at first grade, to a bona fide superstar.
He was handed the cap- taincy in 2007, aged 23. It was all a lot to digest.
Neil Henry was an assistant coach when Thurston first arrived, but stepped into the head role in 2009 after a stint with the Canberra Raiders.
He could see the leadership duties were weighing heavily on Thurston. He needed help.
“It was something he struggled with at times, the responsibility,” Henry said.
“He was a young captain and responsibility, on and off the field, comes with that.
“When I got back there I made Matt Scott co-captain (in 2011). The reasoning was he took some workload off Johnathan.
“It’s very hard to stay grounded when those things (Dally M medals and State of Origin caps) are happening, he’d be the first to admit that.
“He’d admit he needed to sit back and say ‘What am I doing here?’ What legacy am I leaving?’
“Whether it’s giving his headgear away to kids in the stands or picking up the kicking tee for them, it’s a mark of how far he’s come. Those behaviours are noticed, and leadership is setting an example by your actions.
“I don’t think he had to make huge changes, it comes with maturity and growing into the role.
“One thing he’s always been is respectful, he’s respectful of other people, he’s always been like that.”
While he’s maintained the fun-loving, larrikin streak which has endeared him to even non-rugby league lovers, he’s learned to pick his moments.
“It’s obviously chalk and cheese, the type of person he is now,” Scott said.
“There’s parts about him that haven’t changed, and will never change. He’s a big character and personality, full of life and cheek, and that’s what we love about him.
“He’s married now with three beautiful girls, compared to when he first came up here it’s a big change.
“It’s a learning curve all of us go through.
“It’s testament to his character and the person he is that he turned it around, and not just in a small way. He’s set the standard in what he does in the community.”
Teammate Gavin Cooper debuted for the Cowboys a year after Thurston in 2006.
“Giving him the captaincy at 23 was tough for him – to automatically be expected to be a leader, not just on the field but off it,” Cooper said.
“He was still a kid that liked to have fun. He still likes to have fun, but he chooses his moments a little bit better.
“All that pressure that was placed on him back then, he won the Dally M in his first year here.
“People expected a lot of him on the field, but as soon as you become captain you have to become a real class act off the field as well.
“It took him a little while to get wind of that, he’s done that now and having Thumper (Scott) there has really helped.”
In 2004 then Cowboys coach, the late Graham Murray, Henry and Parr watched Thurston play reserve grade for the Bulldogs in Sydney.
Although he was already on the club’s radar, his renowned competitiveness was evident.
The club knew they had a player with the determination to complement his obvious talent, and signed him soon after.
“He wasn’t that big and had some mad hair going on, but he was in everything and you could certainly see he could play,” Henry said. “He was busy on the ball and the club were lucky enough to grab him, and hold on to him.
“TV sometimes doesn’t do justice to players in regards to their work off the ball. When you actually watch live you could see the ground he covers, and he was turning up to places where he can do something.
“The other attribute is his humility off the field, he’s a humble guy.
“Even though he’s won four Dally M’s, he talks about the team more about himself and it’s the mark of the man.”
Former representative centre Brent Tate, a teammate of Thurston’s from 2011 to 2014, said the club was just as important for Thurston as the halfback has been for them.
“He reached a period in his life where he could go one way or the other, and thankfully for everyone involved he chose the right path,” Tate said.