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It’s time for the Cowboys to put Johnathan Thurston out to pasture and place their future in the hands of Queensland’s next great player: Daly Cherry-Evans.
After a tough finals loss to the Roosters, the door slammed shut on yet another North Queensland Cowboys grand final run.
The window for winning is closing fast and it’s time the club started considering the future, cut their losses and severed ties with one of the greatest football players of his generation.
Thurston just finished playing one of his best seasons ever. He led the league in points scoring, try assists and line break assists. He scored 10 tries and was one of the most dominant players in the league. He should be a lock for the Dally M and be officially recognised as best football player in the competition.
Despite all of this, it’s time North Queensland looked forward.
Thurston turns 32 next year and has had two shoulder reconstructions. He’s played almost 250 club games and made 70 representative appearances. He’s undoubtedly a tough bloke, who holds the record for consecutive State of Origin games, but there’s no question that all this footy is going to start catching up with an ageing JT.
Cherry-Evans is a future superstar and he should be the future of the Cowboys. While he had an up and down year this season, he’s already won a premiership with Manly, has established himself as one of the best halves in league, and it’s only a matter of time until he forces his way into the Queensland starting side.
JT himself has already dubbed Cherry-Evans as a future Origin captain.
Cherry-Evans is over half a decade younger than Thurston, and is entering the prime of his football career, he’s also talented enough to play in seven or six. His contract with Manly expires at the end of next season and from November this year he is free to receive future contract offers from other teams. The first one he receives should be from the Cowboys.
The situation at Manly is toxic, with a team that has been competing for premierships in recent seasons imploding due to internal player squabbling. Star players have already left for other teams. With Kieran Foran’s future at the club also uncertain, it’s unclear who will be left at the Silvertails beyond 2015.
On the flip side the Cowboys have a young, dynamic team set up to win for years to come. They have one of the most productive and fertile youth systems in the country that consistently produces a bevy of talented young players ready-made for first grade football. They need a new leader to take them forward into a golden era and an inaugural premiership.
Thurston is on a big money contract that runs until the end of 2017 and while the potential of both DCE and Thurston running around the same paddock in the tropical north is exciting, salary cap restrictions make this a moot point. The Cowboys need to make the tough decision to move Thurston on and free up the cap space required to sign the next superstar of the game.
This won’t be an easy decision for the Cowboys. JT is practically a god up in the north, and many will resist the move to push him out of the club before his contract is up. But the banana benders need to face reality, it’s time to move on.
Thurston should be given one more crack at winning the comp with the Cowboys next year and then the club needs to look to the future and hand the reigns to DCE in 2016.
The Cowboys have an opportunity to future-proof the success of the club for the next half decade if they make the move for the Cherry Bomb. If they don’t, they risk having one or two more seasons of competitive footy before entering the NRL wilderness for the foreseeable future.
Great players win football games. Great management wins premierships.
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