When Queensland takes to the field in State Of Origin battle this week, nobody will be watching more invested than Johnathan Thurston.
The former Rugby League professional – now a Nine Network NRL commentator – is a legend of the game. He played in 36 consecutive Origin games between 2005 and 2016, is the series’ all-time highest points scorer and has been named Origin Man Of The Match five times.
Johnathan, 40, understands only too well how tough this competition is, but wants another victory for his state.
“I’m a Queenslander, so I know what it means when we win,” Johnathan tells TV WEEK. “The morning after a win, a lot of people, especially kids, walk around with the biggest grin because we got the job done. I’m no different.
“I love my state, I’m a massive fan of Rugby League and the Queensland Maroons, and this series just brings all that together. It’s a beast of a thing!”
This year, Johnathan will be back with the Maroons as a member of the coaching team, helping shape the halves and coach the team’s attack.
“There’s a great camaraderie between the coaching staff and the players and they understand what they’re playing for,” he says. “We’ve got a big task ahead of us with the first game in Adelaide, then onto Brisbane and the final in Sydney. It’s going to be another tough series and we need to build on what we achieved last year.”
What the team achieved was victory over New South Wales in a hard-fought 2-1 series that finished with one of the game’s best tries when Queensland’s Ben Hunt ran 80 metres to score after an intercept.
Johnathan, who calls Townsville home, says triumphing against the odds is a very Queensland thing. Married to wife Samantha and with four daughters, he loves the way his team and state take whatever is thrown at them.
“I come from a state that’s extremely resilient and determined,” he says. “We want to prove our doubters wrong. We get battered by natural disasters, from up in the Cape right down to the Tweed and out west as well. So when people tell us we can’t do something, we want to prove them wrong.”
It’s a mission Johnathan has taken into his post-NRL life too, using the public profile the game has given him to push for a better life for those around him. A vocal advocate in youth and Indigenous matters, he’s the founder of the Johnathan Thurston Academy, which champions employment, community and education initiatives.
“That’s what I’m passionate about – and to be able to use the platform I’ve got through Rugby League to create social change for not only my state, but also the country,” he says.
“I feel blessed that young people might look up to me, so I’m trying to help the next generation of our culture and our nation’s youth and inspire them to be the best they can be.”
Part of that mission sprang from Johnathan’s involvement in the first Indigenous All Stars game in 2010, which had a huge impact on him culturally and emotionally.
“From the exercise that we did with [Indigenous educationalist] Dr Chris Sarra, I learnt more about the history of our nation, and my mum’s Indigenous background,” he says. “That’s when I started to think about what I was going to do with my life post-footy.”
It’s led to a continued involvement with League as both part of the Maroons coaching team and Nine Network’s commentary squad, the Academy, several other charities and more.
He says it’s a full life, but one that makes him happy, as much as beating NSW in an Origin series does.
“It’s about making sure I can give back to the community where I can, so I’m very content with where my life is at off the field,” he says. “I’m extremely busy with work and that’s just our life here in the Thurston household!”
