Canberra Raiders defeat North Queensland Cowboys 26-18 in NRL round 17
A JOHNATHAN Thurston shocker is about as rare as snow in Townsville. On Sunday afternoon, the unthinkable happened.
A JOHNATHAN Thurston shocker is about as rare as snow in Townsville. On Sunday afternoon, the unthinkable happened.
No, it didn't snow in the tropics. Instead, Thurston, the genius who usually dominates a highlights reel, confirmed he is human with an off-day that leaves North Queensland's season on a knife's edge.
Inspired by Queensland wrecking ball Josh Papalii, the Raiders blew the Cowboys off the park with a rousing first half to record a 26-18 victory at Canberra Stadium.
After bolting to an 18-0 half-time lead, the Green Machine weathered a Cowboys fightback after the break to snap a two-match losing streak and move within striking distance of the top eight.
The loss means the Cowboys, like the Broncos, must now win six of their last eight matches to have any hope of qualifying for the playoffs.
But the real shock was the horror performance of Thurston, who submitted a display as forgettable as the Canberra weather as he bumbled his way through 80 minutes of misery.
Canberra stationed Papalii opposite Thurston, some 28kg lighter, on the Cowboys' left edge. Papalii happily terrorised his Origin teammate, trampling him twice - the first to score in the 23rd minute - on his way to a man-of-the-match performance.
Thirty minutes after fulltime, Thurston sat hunched in his dressingroom cubicle.
He fired off expletives as he reflected on a performance that was as poor individually as it was collectively.
"It was a s--- performance ... it wasn't what I wanted," Thurston said.
"We knew they would use him (Papalii) to gain momentum and (expletive), he ran over the top of me one time.
"Nothing went our way. Dumb footy ... it was embarrassing on my part."
The nightmare began after two minutes, when Josh McCrone streaked 60m after Thurston had an attacking kick charged down.
It was 12-0 when Papalii brushed off Thurston, who then threw a wayward pass in the 36th minute that rolled into touch.
It got worse. Five seconds before halftime, Thurston dropped the ball cold.
The playmaker atoned with the Cowboys' opening try nine minutes after halftime, sparking a brief fightback that whittled the deficit to 20-12 when Robert Lui crossed in the 65th minute.
But when boom rookie Anthony Milford raced clear five minutes from time, the Cowboys were left languishing in 12th spot with a 6-10 win-loss record.
"Eighteen points (down) at halftime, that made it difficult for us," club coach Neil Henry said.
"We were out-enthused early in the game. We knew their home record was great but we just weren't up to scratch."
Papalii flashed a cheeky grin when asked if his brief was to monster Thurston.
"You look at the halves first," he said.
"When I got the ball I saw him in front of me and I just tried to run over him I guess. It worked at times. I was happy with that."
MATCH CENTRE: Game details and stats
CANBERRA 26 (J McCrone A Milford J Papalii S Sauiluma tries J Croker 5 goals) bt NORTH QUEENSLAND 18 (R Lui J Thurston A Winterstein tries J Thurston 3 goals) at Canberra Stadium. Referee: Gavin Morris, Jason Robinson. Crowd: 10,515.