Never before have the North Queensland Cowboys been more motivated to finally start their NRL season with a bang.
And it has nothing to do with the Cowboys celebrating their 20th anniversary.
Co-captain Johnathan Thurston has revealed plans to follow Jarryd Hayne’s lead and take a rest period during the season in a bid to be fresh for a finals push.
However, Thurston said it would depend on whether North Queensland could break a nasty habit and finally hit the ground running in 2015.
“I have had a chat to (coach) Greeny (Paul Green) about that,” Thurston said ahead of Friday night’s Indigenous team’s clash with the NRL All Stars on the Gold Coast.
“Fingers crossed we can get off to a good start.
“We have been slow out of the blocks the last two or three years, so I am hoping we can start a lot faster this year which will give us the opportunity to put those things in place.”
Hayne planted the seed after he was rested following Origin I and III by Parramatta coach Brad Arthur last season.
Hayne emerged from the enforced break a better player at the business end of the season, almost guiding the Eels to their first finals appearance since losing the 2009 grand final.
Now Thurston is primed to spark North Queensland’s surge toward their first grand final since 2005 after missing the end-of-season Four Nations due to shoulder surgery.
Asked about the Cowboys’ barren title run ahead of their 20th season, Thurston laughed: “Yeah we’re due (for a premiership)”.
He will play his first game of 2015 for the Indigenous All Stars after Green scuppered his plans to run out in last weekend’s Auckland Nines.
“He (Green) put the hand brake on me,” Thurston laughed.
“It’s something I want to do. Hopefully I get that opportunity in the next couple of years.
“(But) I am itching to play on Friday night.
“Doing the hard yards with the boys four weeks before and after Christmas is something I haven’t done in years.”
Despite his lack of game time, Thurston lamented what loomed as the busiest NRL pre-season yet.
Besides the All Stars and Nines, clubs have also organised trials while Brisbane, the Dragons and South Sydney will fly to the UK to contest an expanded World Club Challenge in a fortnight ahead of the official March kick-off.
“I think we need to be a bit smarter about the way things are done,” Thurston said.
“I get one opportunity to play with my team before round one.
“I would have liked another opportunity to do that but with a packed schedule I can’t.
“(And) you’ve got teams going to England to play which is a travel burden before the season kicks off – that’s just my opinion.”
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