Cowboys coach Paul Green has resisted calls to move Johnathan Thurston to halfback

DEFIANT North Queensland Cowboys coach Paul Green has resisted calls to move star playmaker Johnathan Thurston to halfback.

Cowboys coach Paul Green has resisted calls to move Johnathan Thurston to halfback.

A DEFIANT Paul Green on Thursday night resisted calls to move Johnathan Thurston to halfback as the Cowboys coach retains faith in his blueprint to deliver a maiden title to North Queensland.

On the eve of Friday night’s Queensland derby against the Broncos, Green scoffed at suggestions shifting Thurston from five-eighth to halfback would spark the misfiring Cowboys.

Former Test pivots Matt Johns and Scott Hill are adamant Thurston must wear the No.7 jumper to reinvigorate a Cowboys outfit currently languishing in 12th spot.

While Thurston is Queensland and Australia’s pre-eminent five-eighth, at club level the Cowboys have struggled to provide the Maroons ace with a consistent playmaking foil.

GREATS URGE GREEN TO SHIFT JT TO NO. 7

News_Image_File: North Queensland Cowboys training at 1300 Smiles Stadium. Curtis Rona and Johnathan Thurston. Picture: Evan Morgan

Utility Ray Thompson will feed the Cowboys scrum on Friday night, but Green isn’t convinced handing Thurston the No.7 jumper he last wore in 2012 is the club’s miracle cure.

“How would that (moving Thurston to halfback) make things any different to what he does for us?” Green said.

“The number he has on his back doesn’t bother me.

“Putting No.7 on JT’s back won’t instantly change everything. He won’t compete any harder just because he’s at halfback.

“There’s no doubt for me who runs our show ... JT is a great player and we already try to bring him into the game as much we can.”

Thurston moved to five-eighth at club level to aid his transition as Queensland and Australia’s successor to Darren Lockyer, who retired at the end of 2011.

News_Image_File: Former Test pivots Matt Johns and Scott Hill say Johnathan Thurston should play halfback.

But Johns and Hill believe the No.7 jumper imposes a psychological responsibility and should be worn by a side’s main man, in this case Thurston.

Green is mindful that Robert Lui, Michael Morgan and Thompson have failed to stamp their mark at halfback, but is backing his structural overhaul of the Cowboys.

“Johnathan has never spoken to me about wearing the No.7 again but if he wanted to, it wouldn’t worry me,” Green said.

“It’s about finding consistency at halfback.

“Robbie (Lui) had some patches but consistently hasn’t been showing it, so it’s a matter of someone producing it consistently for us.

“Ray did a really good job for us in our last game (against Parramatta) and it’s up to him to keep it now.”

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Thurston admits the next six weeks will be a season-shaping period for a Cowboys side that will lose a posse of big guns, himself included, to Origin duty.

NSW Origin hopeful Tariq Sims (ankle) is hopeful of playing, while Thurston expressed shock at the axing of Broncos prop Ben Hannant.

“It did surprise me,” he said.

“I know stats don’t tell the (full) story but Ben’s game time and the things he’s been doing haven’t been too bad. I’m very surprised he’s been dropped.

“The next few weeks is massive for us, leading into Origin we will be missing a few players. We are only two points out of the top eight so if we can string a few wins together we can get back up there.”

News_Image_File: Ben Hannant in Ipswich Jets Jersey. The forward was dropped from the NRL side for Friday’s Queensland Derby.

HANNANT WON’T BE RELEASED: GRIFFIN

“We are only two points out of the top eight so if we can string a few wins together we can get back up there,’’ he said.

NSW Origin hopeful Tariq Sims (ankle) hopes to play, while Thurston was shocked by the axing of Broncos prop Ben Hannant.

“I know stats don’t tell the story but Ben’s game time and the things he’s been doing haven’t been too bad,’’ he said. “I’m very surprised.’’