Time for Thurston to retire – before it's too late

He beat Joe Louis' ass. Thats right, he did whoop Joe Louis ass. Joey Louis a 137 years old.

I would think Bowen would be regarded higher than Minichiello and Gasnier would even be in that conversation.

Rob in 05 the current Qld legends were no names. in 04, JT was a bench player for the Dogs. You've misread what I wrote about Sing and Bowen, I mean to say, they were the highest regarded (peaked, and I still rate Sing very highly) in that team but neither will be regarded in the same breathe as Mini or Gaz etc will they? As I said, the others played SOO more due to lack of depth then outstanding ability. (Wikipedia shouldn't be your reference point for stats). What is your point about his W/L stats against those players Lockyer/Cronk/Johns have significantly better records but their teams are incomparable. Kimmorley edges him by >3% mostly due to his time at Melbourne but he smashes Prince, Marshall, Sandow. If we're cherry picking, should we throw rep stats in there as well? Yes, Benji outplayed him in the finals, as the did every team on the way to the Premiership (would've thought that;s a given not a point), but it was JT who picked up the Dally M, Dally M #7, RLPA Player OTY. So again, you can cherry pick stats but he was the clearly better half for the whole season. Benji has one Golden Boot and one positional Dally M, which is excellent but JT has multiple in many positions. Of course his impact is lower this year. He has never been the best defender without question and he's coming off an 8 month lay off due to a shoulder reco. After 6 games you want to retire him?? We will never know about playing against the last gen but if you have all the old heads saying he's the best they've seen, and they've seen them all, it's a fair bet he'd go OK.

he's not getting his job done PERIOD! he is a marquee signing (highest paid player in NRL) and their go to guy, he is the captain, if the team needs some inspiration, it'll come from him on or off the field. If they're losing, I don't care what his stats say, he is not getting the job done. stats from a match don't matter, your position on the ladder does and JT is off the pace by a bit. go ahead and ask him, he'll admit to you himself that he is not playing anywhere near where he should be and that it is his responsibility to get the team going

Agree Jeff. It's Barry's Widdop/ JT comparison. JT gets more touches inside the Red zone than any other half in the Comp. That is his job and that is where the attacking touches are made are they not? Yes JT has to create the TA because he is the player with the ball IMO. That is the context of my argument JT lacks the speed and strength to beat defenders and create a defensive error now.

How do you say they are No names. Playing for your state and Country and more than 200 NRL games? Matt Bowen (270) Aus rep Slater was playing 1 also, Matt Sing (275) AUS rep, Bowman (203) 12x SOO, Hannay (153) 2 wins from 2 in SOO. Aaron Payne didn't play SOO but Cameron Smith did during much of his career. Depth issues I believe you say. Rahihi was the best prop in the game in 2005 (19) internationals and in the NZ. WC winning side of 2005. Carl Webb (187) 12x SOO at 50 % AUS was coming of the bench for the Cowboys. I forgot about O'donnel but he's a NSW rep and they were good you say. Jensen? Maybe T.Williams. Lillyman, Scott and G.Cooper all in the 20's. The 2004 Cowboys beat JT's Bulldog "Premiers" in the semi finals, They beat Brisbane in the 2004 finals (2006 premiers). Would you like me to name the No Names playing against the Cowboys and losing by a comfortable margin in 2004 Finals series? Please name the Tigers half that owned him in 2005 finals 80-22. He has alway needed protection in defensive line. In his younger years he was everywhere and held on for help to arrive. Now he is being steamrolled. I'm stating his impact in attack is much lower now compared to some of the options. Milford, Granville, Tamou, Taumalolo, Parker, Blair, Morgan, Feldt, even O'nell were outstanding in comparison to JT in 2015 final. The Broncos scored 10 points as direct mistakes made by JT on the night. I suppose you believe Thurston used ESP on Hunt to spear tackle Linnett in the final minute and concede a penalty. He then set up Morgan for Feldt to score and he magically cast a spell on Oats to tackle ? leaving his wing so Feldt could stroll over. He then whispered to God for Hunt to drop the kick off on the goal line. What a player. Interesting that he has an average W/L record against Johns, Lockyer, Prince, Marshal Cronk, Kimorley and Sandow. I wonder how he would be playing for QLD against Stuart, Clyde, Lazurius, Fitler, Harrigon, Pay, Roberts, Daley. in their prime like Alf with Kevin.

Rob stats are a waste of time without context. JT runs the team so he will have more touches than Widdop but those aren’t attacking touches. Compare Cowboys line breaks vs Saints line breaks. Compare Widdopd attacking touches to Jt’s. JT has to create his own line breaks. Widdops fast pack and ball runners create holes everywhere. Your actually arguing against your own point.

Barry I’ve read the roar for many many years rarely posting. I appreciate your comments because you actually think about the game and have some insight. If someone whose watched the Cowboys can’t see what your saying they just don’t want to. Half the Cowboys side would be lucky to get a spot in nearly any other side. I include Coote and Granville in that even though I love them and they have played brilliant in the past, they play more average games than good ones. JT has been very average to start the year but his job has been made much harder by those around him. It’d be great to see another half slot into JT’s spot and see what they were capable of. And if Bolton hadn’t run into the post in round 2 the wolves would have been kept at bay a little more. He dragged them back into that game when they were very poor. The quality of commentators on the roar has declined unfortunately so I’m glad your still on here. My opinion of the Cows is Granville has been very poor and he’s not alone but being a hooker makes its a big impact. If I was coach Paul Green I’d be sticking with JT, Morgan, LoLo, Hess, Scott, Asiata and Feldt. Every other player needs to prove they deserve to be there or they will be lucky to get another contract. Hampton and Temaire are always trying. I’d keep them around and even drop Granville and let them share the hooking duties to give him a wake up call. Carney to fullback if he’s given the nod and he should be. I’d also start giving Asiata some time on an edge or start him up front. He could handle big minutes and we always look a better side when he’s out there. Bolton and Scott would be the slowest prop pairing in the game and shouldn’t be on at the same time. The Cowboys have a lot more average players than any other ‘gun’ side. When they do their job it also the quality players to carry them to wins, they’re not doing enough.

The Widdop comparison is hard because the opposition teams are different. It's a deadset lottery to compare teams this season. All I will say is Widdop has had 70 less touches than JT so I would expect him to have far less opportunity to put team mates through a gap at present. Mitchell Pearce has almost had a similar dominance as JT in touches.

Come on Rob, you're cherry picking. JT took them to the GF, on the back of his Dally M winning season. All these SoO players you refer too peak at Matt Bowen and Sing. Players like Hannay, Jensen, Bowman and Webb et al... is more due to lack of depth than available quality. Much like saying Johns dominated the Blues #7 when his opposite was Adrian Lamb: good but different class. He won his 2nd two yrs later in 07 as his first year as Captain. Yes they had some tough years 08-10 but you are discounting the retirement of 5 of those Rep players and O'Donnell spending more time on the bench than the field. In 09, he was 2nd only to Hayne (and his late season run) in DallyM but still took the Dall M #7 from a losing team. Suffice to say, 3 poor years against 7 years of finals and a premiership is a pretty decent record even with 'Hand of Foran', No Forward Pass (Roosters) and 7 tackle set against Sharks so let's not talk Rub of the Green. Interesting point to your Fact: Payne did have a 58% win record prior to JTs arrival, that means 19 games. He went on to play 187 more games and a GF, so about 92 more wins under him. At SoO level, his level of consistency is unsurpassed and has won every medal possible. You say he played with some "special players" but that wasn't the case when he started. In fact, they would argue they were lucky to be in his team. 05, JT, Slater, Smith, Inglis all played and lost for the 3rd series straight. G1 in 06, QLD were pumped again against King, Tahu, Gaz, Cooper, Anasta, Buderis, Hindmarsh, Gallen, Mason, Ryan and Craig Wing so who were the no -names? These Qld guys were not in the same conversation but they got home and started their dynasty on team work, not individuals. Your opinion on the 15 GF is just that. I agree Milford outplayed him but he was absolutely in the conversation but we all know the CC hasn't always gone to the most deserving. The bloke has more 4 Dally Ms, 7 positional Dally Ms, 3 Golden Boots, 2 premierships and top 5 attacking stats in every category this season. He is the best in bad teams and good and to say he should retire because he missed a few tackles as he does every year, is short sighted and not viewing the Cowboys teams' performance on the whole.

Barry sorry mate JT looks gassed out there .....and thats in the first 20 minutes. Agree he and the Cowboys should not be written off just yet. But if they lose to the Titans then I'm prepared to put a line through them. Just for the record I'd get rid of Winterstein, Linnett, O'Neil, Coote- they let Smith and Ponga get away which were huge mistakes. JT was the equal best player of his generation with Smith

Sorry Rob, I missed this one. Yeah I totally ageee. Green is trying to salvage this season though, he is waiting for it to click. Fair enough but a couple more losses and he really needs to start developing young blood. Your choices sound good to me.

Are you deliberately misinterpreting what I’m writing...? Thurston’s TA and LBA returns indicate he’s doing his job. The Cowboys are not losing because of JT. It’s amateur analysis in the extreme to say Cowboys have lost five, Thurston must be playing bad. You actually don’t have to look any further than his halves partner. JT is outplaying Michael Morgan by a country mile. It’s not even close. Why don’t you write an article calling for Morgan to retire? The Cowboys forwads are struggling, should they all retire? The outside backs - Feldt aside - are lacking spark and penetration, should they retire? Thurston’s form is nowhere near top of the list as to why the Cowboys aren’t winning.

Hey Rob - Thurston has seven try assists and six line break assists. They didn’t all happen in two games. He’s not playing at his all time best, but that’s a perfectly acceptable return at this stage of the season. Widdop who is playing in a much better performing team that is scoring a lot more points has 9 TAs and 9 LBAs. The Cowboys have a few problems, Thurston’s form is nowhere near the top of the list. Morgan has far bigger form issues than Thurston right now.

I hope Green brings in a few fresh players. 1) Hampson 2) Winterstein 3) Tuala 4) O'neil 5) Feldt 6) Thurston 7) Morgan 8) Bolton 9) Granville 10) Taumalolo 11) Cooper 12) Lowe 13) Asiata 14) Jensen 15) Hess 16) Molo 17)G. Gela Mosbey. First step get some young speed on the field and let Scott play some big minutes and hopefully get the confidence back in Qcup. If they drop this game JT hangs up the boots.

The scary thing is Barry the TA and LB assist came against the Sharks and Broncos in Rd 1-2. Unfortunately his stats are worse as the season has progressed and the scoreboard has reflected that. It's not entirely his fault but his current form is also part of the problem.

He's 33 this year.

Maybe Thurston, Scott, Copper and Winterstein should all retire? Mate JT's scored 10 tries in his first 29 games of NRL. He was fantastic at popping up in support and also linking to turn small opportunities into tries. Since the start of 2015 he has scored 8 tries in 62 games. He's slowed down a lot. He defends on the edge inside the winger and he's getting bashed because he's old. T. Martin has 10 tries in 30 games because he supports the ball and has the speed to turn the line break into points. Wally, Sterling, Stuart, Lockyer and Johns where all stronger defenders and smarter game managers with a stronger kicking game that could put their team in a dominant position. They were all done at this age.