The unwanted record Johnathan Thurston could finish his career with

2 comments?? Come on guys, I've taken bigger bites from the fishtank!

Awesome Rob, thanks man, it's all there. Took me a minute to check out Results, has all from 2000 onwards, that's great. Then click on View includes team lists. Now I can check it out Cheers

Rugby league project is a good over all stats site.

And is it still the case that he hasn't beaten the Tigers, when's hes started in their team, the Cows haven't beaten them, was the case up until two years ago, and pre season trials don't count OK Where can I check previous years match results with team lists included;? Not on nrl site that's for sure

so now JT can't make things happen with the present arsenal that went to the gf last year without him there? is it just me or is it plain & clear he's simply become useless?

I watched him really closely on Saturday night, The guy is spent. There were a handful of close calls on the night which the old JT would have been in the ear of the referee messing with his mind, challenging calls, but his chat seemed non existent and his general body language was not that of the guy who is usually pushing around the field. The lead by example style was gone. Don't get me wrong, the guy tries and was probably their second or third best player on the night, but for the Cows to succeed he needs to be their best every week. He has also got diminished weapons around him. Cooper in particular is cooked. He doesn't have the same impact he did back in about 14/15 when he would run off that short line with JT and bust through the tackles. Now he can't bust a grape. The only way Cooper makes metres is if he manages to hit a big gap.

Cordner is a great leader of men.... But he didn't lead them in 2015 to a minor premiership or to 15th in 2016. He became joint captain in 2017.

Nat, I don’t hate JT he’s been a wonderful player and you wouldn’t get to many physically or mentally tougher to produce a magic moment under pressure. He has always played on instinct and he just never switched off or got lazy. IMO as a smart game manger he struggled probably because he was so focused on what was happening in the moment. Smith, Lockyer, Lewis, Johns, Stuart and Alf where ahead of him in this area. He was at his best in Origin playing second fiddle following the ball. You want him in your team but to much has been his biggest flaw. I noticed this in 2006. We started favourites and he was on fire, then teams worked him out. He tried harder and the Cowboys went worse. We played the Broncos at home and our season was going south. The Broncos were $1.20 and leading 6-0 when JT went off just before half time. M. Bowen stepped up and they went on to beat the Broncos 26-10? In the 2015 GF. I prayed they stopped passing JT the ball inside the 20m zone and went to Morgan because he had scored 3 against Milford already that season?

Absolutely spot on old cowboy.

Nat everything you say is absolutely true. JT is not the main problem . He is below his best but that’s still better than anyone else we have got . If we were a remote hope off making the finals , JT should play every game. However we are done and the only thing we can do now is get ready for 2019. That doesn’t include JT and he shouldn’t play. His playing now does nothing for us at all. The Broncs with Bennett have never been sentimental about their champions . Ask Wally . Green needs to develop that ruthless streak . He is weak as P when it comes to dropping players . He needs to change.

Maybe if the other 12 players on the field with him played up to their full potential there would'nt be such a problem with his form.

Warren Ryans quote regarding Mortimer was along the lines of '' ageing footballers aren't always the best judges of their own form'' Craig Bellamy's ability to tap players on the shoulder is second to none watching from outside the pen. Players leave for more bickies most of the time but apart from that I don't think many really want to leave and I can't recall any dramas. A remarkable feat.

Fair statement and those two examples were massive calls by the respective coaches. I don't know what it was like for Ryan after Mortimer but I know Bennett was getting death threats in Brisbane. I'd have to say it's a harder situation for Green. In '15 JT is the Dally M winner. '16 they get to the prelim final to lose to the eventual premiers. Then, '17, Ponga gets a truckload of money offered to him on a notion. Like you say, in hindsight NQ should've/could've done more to keep him but when the offer was made he hadn't done anything of note and it's a very rare talent who can dominate u20s and bring that directly into grade. Turns out, he's a very rare talent.

Maybe that's one reason why a coach like Warren Ryan did so well . He saw that the legendary Steve Mortimer was past his best and relegated him. How many coaches would have made that call on a player like Mortimer? Every case like this is different but I reckon the coach needs to reserve the right to do the best thing by the team. Bennett informed the great Wally Lewis that he was surplus to requirements and it was a good call but clearly hard to do. Turn back the clock a couple of years with the unfair benefit of hindsight maybe you hang on to Ponga and tap JT on the shoulder. I wonder if even someone like Warren Ryan or Wayne Bennett would have done that.

Give him a go, and appreciate and remember him for what he is ….one of the greatest pound for pound players to have ever played the game. We should feel lucky to have been able to watch him play.

TB. I’m pretty sure JT has picked up plenty of individual awards off the back of the players around him also. The CC. 2015 Could have gone to 10 players before him. M. Bowen, M. Scott, Payne, quietly won games year after year Morgan, Taumalolo, Granville and others on occasion have regular been the major reason for winning. JT gets a hell of a lot of credit for any success. But Like I’ve said before look at 2004 and 2017 finals before and after JT. The other thing to remember is this playing group has been assembled and trained to accommodate a particular way that helps JT. and hide his weakness. Coote is picked to kick the Cowboys out of trouble, Linnett to defend for him, Cooper to run the short crash ball because he’s devoid of a strong long pass, an abundance of big forwards with limited licence to ball play because that doesn’t let JT do his thing if mistakes are made. Morgan to pull some magic if he gets the ball. I’ll concede the stop start penalty athon has crueled the Cowboys this year. He’s an entirely different player against tired defenders or retreating defence. Plenty of playmakers are as well and they cop criticism when the team is getting beat also..

Why is this Thurstons record? Because he gets all the plaudits when they win, he should also wear the criticisms of the losses

In 2007 the Knights came 15th; Although, he retired after playing 4 minutes of the first game and 1 full game after that before getting injured at training and finding a pre-existing bulging disc in his neck. His last full year with the Knights was in 2006 where they came 4th. Shows what happens when a quality player like Johns is out of the team. 4th to 15th.

The season where he only played 2 games? Or his last full season?

I'm sure we could get a David Middeletion type to trawl through stats & check if there was a NSW captain prior to Cordner in 2016 to lead his team from minor premiers the previous year to 15th in 2016 but really, who cares? Does Cordner own that record or share it with the coaches & other team members.