July 2021

Johnathan Thurston: Origin Machine

Thurston may be best known for his career for the Cowboys, but often he was the beating heart of the Maroons State of Origin dynasty.

2017. Game Two. Two minutes remaining. ANZ Stadium. Eastern sideline. 16-16.

A battered and bruised Johnathan Thurston lines up a shot at goal. His left arm hanging limply by his side as it has for most of the match.

He moves in and strikes the ball. It starts outside the right hand upright but then the familiar Thurston hook kicks in and it sails between the sticks. 

Queensland 18 – 16 New South Wales.

It will be the final score of the match and the final scoring play Thurston will ever make in the Origin arena. For a man who was once deemed too scrawny to make junior representative sides or be accepted into the Brisbane Broncos development system, he had once again etched his name into the record books.

Thurston may be best known for his career for the Cowboys, but often he was the beating heart of the Maroons State of Origin dynasty . . .

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