In the 109-year history of rugby league in Australia, only eight players are referred to as the game’s Immortals.
A status awarded to post-war players and established in 1981, Andrew Johns was the last inductee, in 2012, to join Arthur Beetson, Wally Lewis, Graeme Langlands, Reg Gasnier, Johnny Raper, Bob Fulton and Clive Churchill.
Yet, even though he is still playing, there is already a clamour for Johnathan Thurston to become number nine on that revered list, ahead of his idol Mal Meninga, Darren Lockyer, Peter Sterling, Brad Fittler, and current Australia team-mates Cameron Smith and Greg Inglis.
Having added the 2016 World Club Challenge to his hefty trophy haul following the North Queensland Cowboys’ crushing 38-4 triumph over English Super League champions Leeds last Sunday, the 32-year-old has now done, and won, it all. His record cries out, ‘I am Legend’.
Having been instrumental in his country’s World Cup win in 2013, Thurston kicked the Cowboys to their first NRL Grand Final triumph last season with a 17-16 golden-point success over the Brisbane Broncos, after hitting the post with a conversion attempt in the final seconds of normal time.
A record three-time Golden Boot winner as the world’s best player, a record four-time Dally M recipient as the NRL’s finest and nine State of Origin successes, he is deemed to be the sport’s equivalent to footballer Lionel Messi for his match-winning, magical ability.
“I know who he is,” Thurston says as he booms out his famed infectious laugh. “But I don’t think he knows who I am. “It’s a compliment, it really is. Messi is the world’s best soccer player, does brilliant things, so for people to call me that, or think like that, it’s a bit humbling.
“I like to create and score tries, kick goals, but I just try to prepare the best I can each week and not let my team-mates down. That’s most important to me. You have to set your standards high and try to achieve them.
“We have a great coaching staff who put structures in place and, obviously being in the halves, it’s my job to execute the tactics. I’m just enjoying my football and being out there trying to help the team win and achieve something special. It’s not about me.”
But Thurston is a special talent himself, quite possibly RL’s greatest-ever. That debate will never end – and he may have to bide his time for the ultimate recognition of his feats. But Darius Boyd, who has played with him for Australia and Queensland, has no doubt the classy, courageous Cowboys stand-off is among the very best.
Johnathan Thurston receives the Graham Murray medal as man of the match from Amanda Murray pic.twitter.com/L6ptih9uAx
— leedsrhinos (@leedsrhinos) February 21, 2016
The Brisbane full-back was a team-mate of Lockyer in 2006 when the Broncos won the NRL Grand Final, and says it’s a “tie” between the pair as the best he has ever played with.
“Locky was a leader and made things happen, made those around him better,” says Boyd. “JT, well, he is class everywhere. He is a competitor, can kick goals, can put a ball on anyone’s chest and dominate a game like no one else can.”
It is what Johns used to do for more than a decade, but many feel Thurston will surpass him. He seems genuinely humbled by all the accolades, and still can’t quite believe just how far he has come.
Ever since taking up the sport as a six-year-old, he dreamed of a starring role, yet struggled to get a club in his teenage years and worked as a butcher’s assistant in a supermarket as he suffered countless rejections. Even when he was finally given a chance and tried to carve out a career at Canterbury Bulldogs under Ricky Stuart, he had to combine training with washing cars until he got a salary.
Those tough times, which almost made him quit, help him appreciate everything good that has since followed.
“Of course,” says Thurston, who won his first NRL Premiership with the Bulldogs before joining the Cowboys in 2005. “It was hard back then. I was always told I was too small (he’s 5ft 10ins or 179cm), or couldn’t tackle, growing up. But I suppose I’ve had the last laugh now.
“That drove me on. I’m pretty stubborn like that, so it pushed me rather than giving up. I’m enjoying my footy now and that helps massively. What people say is a compliment, I’m humbled and honoured. There have been some great, great players. I was a Canberra Raiders fan growing up so Mal Meninga was my hero. I used to think I was him in the backyard.
“I actually made my Kangaroos debut with Andrew Johns so that was special too, being lucky enough to have one game with him as he was one of the best.
“The best I’ve ever played with are Cameron Smith, GI (Greg Inglis) and Darren Lockyer. So I’ve been in a very lucky position, a privileged position. I’ve played in some very good teams, under some very good coaches, and with some very good players, for representative teams, State of Origin, and the Australian team. Those boys make me look good. And, for me, it’s all about not letting my teammates down and that’s what I try not to do.
“There’s pressure, but I enjoy that. Hopefully when I finish, the boys will have enjoyed playing alongside me and know that I gave it everything.”
But Thurston is far from finished. Having hinted at giving up Origin rugby to extend his Cowboys contract by another year, that could well be 2017 when he is 33.
But he tells Sport360 exclusively: “I don’t really set targets. I’m just enjoying my football, enjoying going to training with the boys, and will keep going for as long as I can.
“The body is feeling really good and at this stage, I’m hoping I can still be running around on the pitch in 2018 – and then we will see.
Johnathan Thurston with Sport360’s Alam Khan.
“I’m looking forward to the next couple of years. This year, next year, I just want to win more trophies. We have the World Cup again next year and that’s another target. Losing the 2008 final to New Zealand was my worst memory – I’m not used to losing. But we got it in 2013 and it would be special to get another.”
And, with the new NRL season starting next Thursday, so too another Premiership as no team have won back-to-back titles since Brisbane in 1992-93.
“Absolutely,” adds Thurston. “Without a doubt winning the Grand Final was my best moment, above a World Cup. “It’s why you play the game, to win Grand finals. It’s what you set out to do every year.
“To finally win that first Premiership for the Cowboys is a memory that will last me forever. It was such a close game and emotional at the end for me.
“I think that was all down to the build-up from the week, what it meant, the occasion, and then a pressure release at the end. I have fond memories of it and to be part of the first Cowboys team to win it, that was special. But now we want to do it all again and make more history.
“I’m always looking at doing more, 100 per cent, and looking forward to trying to get better each week. I analyse my game every week and look at areas where I can improve and do better.”
If Thurston is able to do that, heaven help the opposition – and rugby league immortality will be confirmed sooner rather than later.
