SCARE FACTOR
JOHNATHAN Thurston sent a massive scare through the Maroons camp yesterday, after the star playmaker fell to the ground with a knee injury in the team’s last training session on the Gold Coast.
It was a sight no Queenslander wanted to see, as Thurston came off second best in two training collisions, with the Maroons fiveeighth left in obvious pain following the first hit.
Intrust Super Cup side Souths Logan was in attendance for the contested session when Thurston knocked his right knee while trying to make a tackle on a Magpies player and was left lying on the turf. As concerned teammates and trainers came to his aid, Thurston tried to stand up but limped around the field for several minutes in an attempt to run the pain off.
While he managed to finish the session — and had to shake off another big hit from teammate Josh Papalii — there was concern for Thurston, who had ice on his knee after training.
The official word from inside the Queensland camp is that Thurston is fine, but he was taken via golf cart to his recovery ice bath and was also seen later walking through camp with the knee strapped and ice packed over the injury.
Teammate Matt Gillett admitted the original collision was enough to have him worried for Thurston, but said everyone in the team knows how tough he is.
“Everyone knows what Johnno is like,” Gillett said.
“He takes those hits pretty well. He just got up, shook it off for a couple of minutes there, and got back into the line.”
“He’s all right but he’s been in the wars,” Gillett said.
“It’s good to see him backing himself by putting his body in front.”
Coach Kevin Walters also dismissed any concerns over Thurston after the session, while teammates shielded him from prying eyes during his ice bath, holding up towels while the public and media tried to take photos.
His Cowboys and Maroons teammate Gavin Cooper also backed him to be fine for Wednesday’s clash with NSW.
“It always does ( give you a scare) when one of your star players goes down, whether it happened here or at the Cowboys,” Cooper said. “But he hopped up and finished the session, which was very encouraging, so he’ll be fine.”
Thurston will travel to Sydney today with the rest of the team before Queensland’s final training run tomorrow in which he will get to test out the knee again.