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North Queensland superstar Johnathan Thurston will continue to let his football do the talking after putting injury-hit South Sydney to the sword on Monday night.
Thurston bagged a tryscoring double, had a hand or boot in two others and slotted four conversions as the Cowboys ran away with a 30-12 victory over the NRL premiers at ANZ Stadium.
His five-star, 16-point performance lifted North Queensland into a six-way share of sixth spot, out of the top eight only on differential, after the Cowboys opened their 2015 campaign with three straight defeats.
Thurston also outpointed South Sydney skipper Greg Inglis as debate swirls around which of the two Queensland State of Origin champions are most deserving of Immortal status.
While Thurston and Inglis didn’t go head to head in the halves after Souths coach Michael Maguire pulled a surprise pre-game and thrust ball-playing back-rower Glenn Stewart into the five-eighth role, the two giants of the game were in everything for their respective sides.
Thurston, though, finished a unanimous winner on the night after helping the Cowboys pile on 26 unanswered points from 12-4 down to knock the Rabbitohs off the top of the ladder.
But he modestly deflected the praise towards his unsung teammates when asked if he felt like the best player in the world.
“That’s for you to judge, not me,” Thurston said.
“I can’t give enough credit to our squad. Across the park, our back five are taking some tough carries, the boys in the middle third are rolling off the back of that and it’s a great team effort.
“I can’t do it without those boys doing their job and they’ve done it extremely well over the last three weeks.”
Cowboys coach Paul Green was once again left marvelling at Thurston’s toughness after the skipper turned the match the Cowboys’ way after Inglis was denied a try by the video referees when the Rabbitohs led by eight points just before halftime.
“Guys like `Jono’, everyone wonders at the skill and the plays that they put on but for guys like him who compete week in, week out it’s a massive effort,” Green said.
“With the interchange rule, they don’t get the chances that the smaller guys used to get a few years ago. There’s normally a fresh man in front of them.
“So it’s the toughness that they display that’s a a credit to them.”
Turning 32 this season, Thurston has played a staggering 30 straight Origin games and helped the Maroons to a record eight consecutive series wins before last year’s loss to NSW.
But the durable three-time Dally M Medallist keeps on keeping on.
“You have to. It’s a tough competition,” Thurston said.
“I love playing with the boys and I understand my role in the team.”
Souths coach Michael Maguire refused to blame Inglis’ no-try ruling as an excuse after the Cowboys piled on 26 points unanswered points after that.
Maguire was more disappointed with “a lot of uncharacteristic efforts” from his premiers and singled out Thurston’s try in the first minute of the second half, after Cowboys back-rower Gavin Cooper busted the Bunnies up the middle, as the turning point.
“It’s amazing how one play can change a game very, very quickly,” he said.
Compounding the Rabbitohs’ woes was Ben Lowe being placed on report for dangerous contact on Thurston’s legs, while Jason Clark was dazed in the second half.
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