He had some sort of bust up with Henry early last year when his form wasn't great, something along the lines of Henry keeping Thruston more on the left side of the field in attack and Travis Burns taking on more responsibility in the halves so that when Thurston was away for Origin duty they wouldn't be clueless in attack but it was affecting Thurston's form and he went back to his usual game although they both denied any bust up. Henry is the assistant for QLD and he might have been trying to get him playing like he does for them but the difference there is for QLD he has Lockyer there and at the Cowboys it was Burns, thing is, Burns couldn't lace Lockyer's boots but now they've let him go to Penrith and brought nobody in to replace him, Rovelli or Watts will play there. They should have gone all out for Greg Bird IMO.
The Dogs will be favourites to get him if or when he leaves, Kimmorley's contract runs out at the end of this year so they'll need a halfback and Thurston has said before he'd like to go back one day. Also the Eels where interested but they gave Robson a 2 year deal a couple of months back which was surprising cos if they do go after Thurston then Robson will be a back up with a year on his contract still. The Eels look strong anyway IMO but with Thurston and Mortimer in the halves they'll be unstoppable.

Can't see how Parra could afford Thurston with the price tag Hayne commands. Then there's Tahu, Hindmarsh, Fui and Poore who would all be on decent money. Can't fit Thurston's 400k+ salary in with them.

Then you look at the Dogs and you wonder who's even the top paid player at the club. They should get him. I can still very easily picture him in blue and white, but I think lime green would suit him very well also.

Seems he is being tempted by the mughty Yen! Would be a huge loss if he leaves the NRL. www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 5810380275 AUSTRALIAN Test halfback Johnathan Thurston has rocked rugby league with the stunning admission he is considering a switch to the rival code rugby union. "I could easily see myself being a Wallaby," the champion halfback told The Daily Telegraph. Thurston said he didn't share the same sense of lifetime loyalty to rugby league felt by Australian captain Darren Lockyer, who has rejected several past approaches from the 15-man code. And Thurston's manager Sam Ayoub already has in his possession a $1.1 million-per-year offer from Japanese rugby.

Seems he is being tempted by the mughty Yen! Would be a huge loss if he leaves the NRL. www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 5810380275 AUSTRALIAN Test halfback Johnathan Thurston has rocked rugby league with the stunning admission he is considering a switch to the rival code rugby union. "I could easily see myself being a Wallaby," the champion halfback told The Daily Telegraph. Thurston said he didn't share the same sense of lifetime loyalty to rugby league felt by Australian captain Darren Lockyer, who has rejected several past approaches from the 15-man code. And Thurston's manager Sam Ayoub already has in his possession a $1.1 million-per-year offer from Japanese rugby.

scott prince steps up for queensland

given recent form not a massive loss, thats the depth in the nrl

ha ha, he is rated the best scrum half in the game, how can you say it'd be no loss? I love it when someone threatens to leave for another code and everyone comes out and says he isn't that good anyway and we can soon replace him. I'm still waiting for SBW to be replaced by an equally exciting forward or Gasnier with an equally exciting centre.

google the melbourne storm team for last year and youll find a very capable 6 or 7

after losing gaz and sbw in one year the game got stronger

noones irreplaceable after johns and locky

they all miss the nrl anyway and come back like dogs

Thurston is just using the rah rah to push up his dollar.

Very much so.

I cannot imagine Thurston playing Union, for more than one reason.

His Agent met with St Helens during the 4 nations apparantly but they came no where near what was on offer from Japanese RU.

I was thinking the same about Parra with all the big names and Mortimer will have got an upgrade after last year and will probably expect another if he carries on improving this year.
Question is who's off contract next year? Cayless wont be far off, then there's Grothe, i think Luke Burt is in his last year. And with the likes of Reddy, Inu and Tahu they wont really need Burt and Grothe unless they get injuries but they'll have some young wingers pushing for first grade anyway. I'm sure if they want Thurston that much and he's willing to go there they'll make the room on the cap thats needed.
Kimmorley is in his last year so the Dogs must have a pretty good chance of getting him and he or his manager spoke to them last week when they were in Sydney. I'd imagine the Dogs have room under the cap, they wanted Inu and Mateo a few months back and i bet they wouldn't come cheap.
Just what the Raiders need, Thurston and Campese in the halves would be better than Prince and Bird at the Titans. Keep praying

Good to see a few big names having a crack at Thurston for this Union stuff. I don't care whether he's serious or not about going to Union, all he's doing is giving that game free publicity with those sorts of quotes. Yesterday the Courier Mail here had the full back page devoted to Thurstone saying he'd like to be a Wallaby, complete with doctored photo of him in Wallbies gear.

IMO its about time that league players showed a bit more loyalty to the game they're actually playing in and earning pretty good money from.

We haven't missed SBW or Gasnier whatsoever.

Last season was the second highest for attendances of all time, that should have been a hint. The chat on forums about them dried up long ago and it's only Danny Wideload's odd fellatio piece on SBW that is a reminder that the bloke even played in the NRL.

Thurston would be no loss at all, none. He is a grub who is quite welcome to go play Union as far as I'm concerned.

In all honesty, I don't really care if they go to another code. They're welcome to chase the bucks.

But what I do mind is how we allow them to come back. They should be banned from coming back, that would make them think a bit harder about going in the first place.

And before the resident's start barking, it is NOT restraint of trade.

nah mate we shouldnt ban anyone. thats what union did. were better than that.

i like it when they come back for half the money or less in our game. it shows how good we are.

plus RL was born to pay players properly. if other sports can do it better than us, good luck to them.

union is evil. if i were a player and offered double the money, for less games, more travel and zero effort i wouldnt think twice.

its dogs first and saints 2nd chasing him in sydney.

the article does say his GF working in townsville makes a difference