After an emotional Origin loss things didn’t get any better for Johnathan Thurston against the Knights
FRUSTRATION got the better of him on Origin night and things didn’t get much better for Cowboys skipper Johnathan Thurston at Hunter Stadium.
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HIS frustration got the better of him at the end of an emotional Origin loss to the Blues last Wednesday night.
And things didn’t get much better for Cowboys skipper Johnathan Thurston at Hunter Stadium on Monday night.
Without injured Origin stars Matt Scott and Brent Tate, his depleted side went into the game having not won any of their six away matches this season.
Despite a promising start, their inability to fire on the road continues to undermine their top-eight aspirations.
To make matters worse for Thurston, he was the target of plenty of Knights attacking raids and, at times, was found wanting defensively.
Thurston must be getting sick of the sight of Beau Scott, who terrorised him in the opening two Origin games and was at it again on Monday night.
Scott powered through him in the first half before putting fullback Darius Boyd over for the Knights’ second try.
In the second half, it was Knights centre Dane Gagai who left Thurston posted on his way to a 30-metre try that set the Knights on their way.
Gagai’s two-try performance left many believing he might be the one to fill Tate’s vacant wing spot in Origin III.
But his coach Wayne Bennett pointed out a discipline issue at an Emerging Maroons camp in Brisbane in January when Gagai was late for training.
“Gagai can’t play Origin this year,” he said.
“He had that indiscretion in the camp. He knows that and it won’t happen.”
Originally published as After an emotional Origin loss things didn’t get any better for Johnathan Thurston against the Knights
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