North Queensland Cowboys: James Tamou’s hatchet job motivates Johnathan Thurston

JOHNATHAN Thurston is “disappointed” by comments by James Tamou, who said Jarryd Hayne was a better player than his Cowboys captain.

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - JULY 09: Aidan Guerra of the Maroons celebrates scoring a try with Johnathan Thurston during game three of the State of Origin series between the Queensland Maroons and the New South Wales Blues at Suncorp Stadium on July 9, 2014 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

JOHNATHAN Thurston feels “disappointed” by comments from club teammate James Tamou, who said Blues fullback Jarryd Hayne was a better player than his Cowboys captain.

Tamou made the comments in the lead-up to Queensland’s dominant performance in Game Three - and they clearly motivated the champion five-eighth.

The Blues prop apologised via text message the morning the story emerged, but it clearly remains a sore point for the ultra-competitive Thurston.

It didn’t help that Hayne had targeted Thurston in defence all series.

Thurston said, while he had not read the story or Tamou’s direct quote, he had seen the back page of The Courier-Mail that said Tamou had betrayed him, and had been told that Tamou does indeed believe Hayne was a better player.

Johnathan Thurston is ‘disappointed’ by James Tamou.

“I haven’t read the actual comment, but you know he’s entitled to his opinion,” Thurston said following Queensland’s 32-8 defeat of Tamou’s NSW.

“I’m disappointed. Like I said though, he’s entitled to his opinion.”

Tamou last week described Hayne as an “unreal” talent and his Game One effort was the best individual performance he had ever witnessed.

“I think it’s definitely better,’’ Tamou said when asked if Hayne was a more influential player than Thurston.

“He’s just one of those talents that’s just unreal, the way he just plays the game.

“He single handedly picked them off in the first game. I haven’t seen that performance from any of their players in a while, in the last few years.”

Thurston played his 30th consecutive Origin match in Game Three, an incredible feat for a playmaker.

This game was a drama-charged event for Thurston, even before kick-off, after he forgot to bring his boots and police had to race back to his hotel to retrieve them.

Despite the drama, Thurston produced his best performance this series.

He has been maligned for his defence this season, but Thurston missed only three tackles on Wednesday night.

Originally published as North Queensland Cowboys: James Tamou’s hatchet job motivates Johnathan Thurston