Johnathan Thurston climbs out of hospital bed to lead Maroons to Origin II glory

JOHNATHAN Thurston has reinforced his status as the game's toughest player, climbing out of his hospital bed to mastermind Queensland's 26-6 win.

JOHNATHAN Thurston has reinforced his status as the game's toughest player, climbing out of his hospital bed to mastermind Queensland's series-levelling 26-6 win.

In scenes reminiscent of Maroons legend Trevor Gillmeister leaving hospital to help the Maroons to a series sweep in 1995, Thurston ignored crippling stomach pain to star.

His performance will be etched in Origin's history of courage, after he laid on two tries, made a line break and chased harder than any Blue.

Thurston was taken to hospital after being hit by a virus on Tuesday that worsened during the night.

The Blues must have wished he had stayed there, especially after he threw a 20m spiral cut-out pass for Darius Boyd to score, effectively icing the game.

Rugby league and beautiful are rarely featured in the same sentence but that pass in the 48th minute, which flew past the nose of three defenders, was pretty.

In a game that at one stage was reduced to 11 on 11, it is apt to describe Thurston's play with adjectives usually reserved for soccer.

The Cowboys star was only ruled fit Wednesday afternoon. But by 8.30pm he was the one inflicting crippling pains.

It took just 18 minutes for the new dad to prove his poor form at club level and injury concerns were history.

This was not the same player who could not even kick goals in Origin I.

With Queensland dominating early possession, Thurston and his halves partner Cooper Cronk ran riot, isolating Blues defenders and sapping their confidence in the men outside them.

After repeat sets, Thurston exploited a scrambled Blues defence to throw a face ball to Boyd, who was unmarked after Nathan Merritt rushed off his line, expecting Thurston would throw a short ball to Greg Inglis.

The 48th-minute try came from a repeat play with even more points for style.

Thurston has at times been too tough for his own good, including Origin I. Despite having a debilitating groin injury, Thurston told Maroons staff he was fit. He wasn't and played below his standards in the 14-6 loss.

This time, the 30-year-old five-eighth, who welcomed daughter Frankie into the world earlier this month, easily outshone rival playmaker James Maloney, who had a poor game.

Thurston's case was not as dramatic as Gillmeister, who defied medical advice to rise from his hospital bed to lead Queensland in a "dead rubber" contest at Lang Park 18 years ago.

But considering the weight that rode on the result and his performance in Game Two, Thurston's effort was just as memorable.