Johnathan Thurston’s manager says the champion halfback could play beyond 2018

PREPARATIONS for Johnathan Thurston’s testimonial alongside Cameron Smith will be ramped up this week, but his manager Sam Ayoub says 2018 may not be the champion halfback’s final season.

North Queensland Cowboys pre-season training. Johnathan Thurston. Picture: Alix Sweeney

PREPARATIONS for Johnathan Thurston’s testimonial alongside Cameron Smith will be ramped up this week, but his manager Sam Ayoub says 2018 may not be the champion halfback’s final season.

Thurston will be honoured alongside Smith in a pre-season game at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium on Friday, February 23.

The game, which organisers are calling ‘A Night with Cameron Smith and JT’, has already pre-sold 18,000 tickets.

A crowd of 40,000 is expected for the terimonial match.

Organisers will commence official promotions on Monday in the hope of attracting more than 40,000 fans to pay tribute to the legendary Queensland duo.

Thurston has stated this season will be his last, but Ayoub says things could change depending on the outcome of 2018.

“If Johnathan has a good year and his body feels good, who is to say he won’t go around again even if it is a, ‘let’s train and see how I go’,” Ayoub said.

“But at this stage, retirement is what he is thinking.

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“I doubt he will keep playing beyond this season, but you never know.”

Ayoub says Thurston already has an eye on his post-football career, including the announcement of a major venture next month.

“There are lots of things in the pipeline, including something very big that will be announced in late February,” he said.

Thurston and Smith’s testimonial match will be broadcast exclusively live on Fox Sports.

Originally published as Johnathan Thurston’s manager says the champion halfback could play beyond 2018