Teary JT opens up over honour
HE had a week to prepare his speech, but nothing could prepare Johnathan Thurston for the overwhelming emotion that would hit him when he walked on stage.
As the champion halfback said, he was lucky he brought his napkin.
The Cowboys premiership winner and four-time Dally M Medal winner became the fourth player inducted into the North Queensland Hall of Fame at the club’s awards night.
Thurston joined club legends Paul Bowman, Matty Bowen and Matt Singh in the prestigious group.
The 324-game veteran, and most-capped Cowboy in the club’s history, was floored by the award and described it as one of the highest honours in his career.
He was reduced to tears as he addressed a room of the Cowboys players, staff and major supporters on Thursday night.
Thurston told the Townsville Bulletin he felt like he owed the club, a place which transformed him from a “ratbag kid” into the man he was today, even if that man was still a little “rough around the edges”.
“I can’t thank the club enough; they will continue to be a massive part of my life,” he said.
“The club has been a massive part of my life. There has been a lot of people that have helped me along this journey. They are the people who are inside those four walls.”
Thurston made an immediate impact when he arrived at North Queensland, as he helped guide the club to its first grand final in 2005.
As a 21-year-old halfback, Thurston admitted he had thoughts that it would become a regular occurrence over his time with the club. But it took another decade before the Cowboys would return to the most important night of the NRL season, which made that breakthrough premiership win in 2015 just that much sweeter for the veteran.
“When you are 21 or 22 and playing in the grand final, you just think ‘I will play in a lot more grand finals’. I had gone back to back in grand finals, but then it took me another 10 years,” he said.
“I was early 30s when I got back there again. That group of men (in the 2015 crew) gave me my greatest memory on a rugby league field.”
Thurston admitted he would not be inducted into the Hall of Fame without the support of wife Samantha and their four kids off the field.
“I wouldn’t be where I am without Sam’s support and guidance and love,” he said.
“She is the one that hits me in between the eyes. You can have a lot of people that blow wind up your a--e, but she tells me exactly how it is and that is what I needed.
“I still had that ratbag in me, I can’t thank her enough.”