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Johnathan Thurston (born April 25 1983 in Brisbane , Queensland , Australia ) is an Australian Rugby League player who currently plays for the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League competition. His position of choice is at Half-back . PLAYING CAREER Johnathan Thurston made his first grade debut in the National Rugby League match between the Penrith Panthers and the Canterbury Bulldogs at Penrith Football Stadium on June 8 , 2002 in round 13 of the competition. In 2004 , in his third season in first grade for the Bulldogs, Thurston was part of the Bulldogs NRL Premiership winning side. He was signed by the North Queensland Cowboys for the 2005 NRL season until 2006. 2005 proved to be a turning point in Thurston's short career. He was easily the most consistent player in the competition, this consistency earnt him his first state of origin jersey. In his first match he was voted player's player after beign in the top 4 tacklers and kicking an amazing field goal to force the game into extra time. He was awarded with the Dally M. Medal in 2005 in his first season with the Cowboys for his impressive displays throughout the season. He also played an intergral part in guiding the North Queensland Cowboys to their first ever NRL Grand Final, which they lost 30-16 to the Wests Tigers . 2006 Thurston started the year somehow playing much better football than last year. His performance already have him streaks ahead on the Dally M medal tally after only a handful of games. His wonderful perfomances have added huge amounts of pressure on the Australian test selectors to drop one of the two players who are considered by many to be among the games greats in Andrew Johns and Darren Lockyer. He is tipped to take over the North Queensland captaincy in 2007 at the yougn age of 23. It is almost certain that Thurston will quickly become one of the games greatest ever players. At the rate he is improving it is impossible to tell where he will stand at the end of his career, but greatest of all time is quite possible. LIFE AWAY FROM FOOTBALL In late 2005, Johnathan was one of 12 of the hottest players in the NRL that posed for the '' League Of Their Own 2006 '' calendar that was produced in the style of the famous Dieux Du Stade calendars to raise money for the Koori Kids foundation. Johnathan was chosen to appear on the cover of the calendar. CAREER INFO
''Information accurate to end of 2005 season'' EXTERNAL LINKS |
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