Johnathan Thurston’s toughness adds to Maroons great’s State of Origin legacy

“Did ‘JT’ tell you about the night he spent in hospital?” asks Mal Meninga. No, he didn’t. So let’s allow the former Maroons coach to take up the story.

Johnathan Thurston led Queensland to victory in what will be his final match for the Maroons.

• JT’s gone — where to now for Maroons?
• Maroon maestro Thurston’s will to win
• Johnathan Thurston’s 2017 season over

BEHIND the aura of invincibility, this is the backstory of Johnathan Thurston’s toughness, and why his record of 36 consecutive Origin appearances is unlikely to ever be beaten.

After kicking the Maroons to victory last Wednesday night, his right arm as limp as month-old lettuce, the sight of a battered Thurston in the ANZ Stadium sheds, held together with more plaster than an Egyptian mummy, crystallised his bravery.

The true toll can be felt today, as Thurston prepares to undergo season-ending surgery. His Origin fairytale is shattered. His World Cup finale is dead. His hopes of another premiership ring at the Cowboys must wait another 12 months.

Amid the glory and heartbreak, Thurston is too humble to trumpet war stories. In the ANZ sheds, he is asked to be honest. To tell the truth about his private injury battles, the ones he endured well before the bung right shoulder that could take no more.

Johnathan Thurston celebrates after kicking the winning conversion in State of Origin II. Picture: Brett Costello

Instead, he plays a straight bat like a government diplomat. All he offers is his trademark chuckle. He mumbles something about doing it for his teammates. Nothing special. No bravery. That’s Origin. So we turn to others in search of the truth.

“Did ‘JT’ tell you about the night he spent in hospital?” recalls former Maroons coach Mal Meninga.

No, he didn’t.

“OK ... it was the night before an Origin game,” Big Mal continues. “He felt crook so our medical staff felt it was important to get him to hospital to see how he went.

“They put him on the intravenous drip and pumped him full of antibiotics. He had a viral infection, some pains in his stomach.

“The next day it’s game day. He woke up and said he felt OK and he played.”

That was Game Two of the 2013 series. Thurston’s 26th consecutive Origin game for Queensland. Twenty-four hours after lying in a hospital bed, he didn’t just play. He carved up. Thurston set up two tries in a 26-6 victory which saved the series and provided the impetus for Queensland to chalk up a seventh straight Origin crown in the decider.

Johnathan Thurston carved up in Game Two of the 2013 series after spending the previous night in hospital.

“Some guys play with pain better than others and JT is the one guy who can do it,” Meninga says.

“We all remember Trevor Gillmeister (famously checking out of hospital to lead Queensland to victory in 1995), and Johnno has that same ethos.

“He loves the Queensland jumper. He loves playing football and the culture we have built. But most of all, he just hates letting his teammates down.”

That’s just one example. Hit the rewind button and spool back to the 2011 Origin series. The day before Game One, Thurston suddenly feels a sharp, stabbing pain in his right ankle.

Maroons doctor Roy Saunders orders immediate scans. Mysteriously, they show no major damage. Thurston insists he can play. Meninga is not convinced. They discuss ruling him out. The champion playmaker is determined to prove them wrong.

In the dark of night, he undergoes an impromptu, top-secret fitness test ... outside his hotel room.

“I remember running up and down the hotel the night before the game doing a test on my foot,” Thurston said in an interview in 2015, laughing at the absurdity of sprinting on carpet in a hotel corridor.

Again, he got the green light. Twenty-four hours later, Thurston scored the opening try of the series, leading Queensland to a 16-12 win at Suncorp Stadium.

Johnathan Thurston scores the opening try of the 2011 series after overcoming an ankle injury.

“I’ve had a couple of close shaves,” he says.

“I don’t know about being tough, I’m just lucky I think.

“There’s been a few games where I’ve had to pass fitness tests to play, but I always put the team first.”

Maroons skipper Cameron Smith on Thursday hailed Thurston as the greatest player he had ever seen. But Smith also believes he is among the toughest.

“I remember preparing for a Test match, we were training at Langlands Park and he rolled his ankle in the captain’s run,” he said.

“His ankle was twice the size and he had to go off early. We all thought, ‘Shit, he’s out, who will replace JT?’ Then the next day he got up for the Test and was one of our best players.

“To play so many Origins in a row is not just luck. JT could easily have missed games, but he has bravery like no-one else I’ve seen.”

Now the fairytale has tragically and inexplicably veered off script.

Thurston will not run out before 52,000 rabid Maroons fans on July 12 at Suncorp Stadium. After 37 magical matches for the Maroons, his decorated Origin career is over.

There will be no change of heart.

“I’m at peace with the decision I have made,” he said an hour after his Origin II heroics.

Johnathan Thurston led Queensland to victory in what will be his final match for the Maroons.

“I have got no worries about that, I am just enjoying it while it is lasting.

“I know my career is coming to an end and it’s about enjoying training every day and being around the boys.

“I am staying in the moment and love it while it lasts.”

Thurston will no doubt do a pre-game lap of honour at Suncorp to say farewell to his adoring fans but it wasn’t meant to end like this. Queensland wanted to see Thurston in Maroon one last time.

Instead, they must settle for his legacy ... and the superb sideline conversion that has kept the Maroons alive.