Johnathan Thurston only learned ten years ago his mother was part of the stolen generation, and it helped change his life off the NRL field.
Forever proud of his own Indigenous heritage, Thurston only learned for the first time in 2010 of the details of his mother’s childhood at a crunch time in his career.
Speaking for the first time about the topic, the champion playmaker claims that and a trip to her early home in outback Queensland proved the missing pieces in his life.
“I always knew I was Aboriginal and always knew Mum grew up in Mitchell about eight hours west of Brisbane,” Thurston told the Bounce Back Podcast.
“But that was the extent of what I knew.
“It wasn’t until 2010 NRL Indigenous All-Stars and we did an exercise (on how much you knew of your family’s culture).
It prompted Thurston to hire a bus and drive to Mitchell with his cousins and uncles, on a journey of discovery on his own family’s history at the end of that year.
“My mum’s family were removed from their mum and dad at a young age,” Thurston said.
“Mum was one of 13. She’s the second eldest, she certainly looked after the rest of the family.
“Meeting the elders, we did traditional dancing, we went to the local watering hole.”
It came at a crucial time in Thurston’s life.
He had just been arrested for public nuisance earlier that year, the last of any off-field woes after admitting he had issues growing up.
It helped kick him into gear on the field too, with 2010 a year he had to take the most lessons from on the field.
He won just three of 17 games for North Queensland as he battled injuries before a masterful seven-year run began in 2011 of successive finals appearances.
In truth, it was from that season the Cowboys’ run to their maiden premiership began with Thurston the main conductor.
“That (trip) was when I started having a deeper thinking about what I wanted to do with my platform in rugby league,” Thurston said.
“2010 was a big year for me both on the field and off the field.”
“It was a huge moment. It was probably the missing piece of the puzzle of my life.
© AAP
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
There are few greater sledges you can give an NRL team than calling them pretenders but the Cowboys will not be contenders until they…
Who are the hardest working big men in the NRL?
Parramatta eased the pressure on coach Brad Arthur with an upset 27-20 win over the Cowboys at CommBank Stadium on Saturday night despite an…
Derbies are often rated on intensity rather than quality, and that was very much to the fore at Suncorp for the third Battle of…
1. Sea Eagles see no evil The Manly Sea Eagles are a loveable bunch, which is why they famously don’t have to carry banners…
Cowboys coach Todd Payten recently said he thinks Scott Drinkwater is knocking on the door for State of Origin but his star fullback is…
