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The North Queensland Cowboys have announced that they will not ”break the bank” to keep Johnathan Thurston.
That should be encouraging for North Queensland fans.
While Thurston is definitely a player who could maintain an elite level well into his 30s, the fact is that his prime years will be ending soon and the club has a lot of other talent that needs to be taken care of.
If Thurston won’t accept a reasonable offer, the club will be right to move on.
With all due respect to Josh Reynolds, who may become an elite player, Canterbury showed last year what can be done without a champion in the halves.
With that in mind, let’s look at some of the players who could form a long-term core for North Queensland.
The list includes:
Matt Scott
Jason Taumalolo
Tariq Sims
James Tamou (already re-signed)
Kane Linnett
Michael Morgan
Antonio Winterstein
Ashton Sims
That list only includes current NRL players. The Cowboys also have an outstanding junior nursery.
If they can re-sign the forwards on that list, they will have a platform from which to be competitive for years.
This means their coaching/player recruitment team will be critical. Guys like Des Hasler have made a career out of tailoring their work specifically to the talent on their teams.
That may sound bleeding obvious, but I suspect that many coaches in the NRL are still deficient when it comes to building structures/strategies that support the gifts of their players.
With the right priorities, the Cowboys can be competitive without Thurston. Maybe not as competitive in the short term but, as we’ve seen, the best in any field tend to take the long view.
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