Time is ticking as Cowboys prepare for life after Johnathan Thurston

DARREN LOCKYER column: With every passing week, Paul Green hurtles closer to the Cowboys’ great conundrum — how to replace Johnathan Thurston.

COWBOYS coach Paul Green faces one of the biggest decisions in North Queensland’s history. With every passing week, he hurtles closer to the Cowboys’ great conundrum — how to replace a champion in Johnathan Thurston.

Thurston’s battle with a calf injury over the past fortnight has brought the Cowboys’ scrumbase succession plan into sharp focus.

Time is ticking. The issue is no longer one Green can bury in the back of his mind. The Cowboys’ clash against Newcastle on Saturday night is a timely snapshot of the potentially ruinous effect of losing a legend.

Andrew Johns, the Knights’ halfback Immortal, retired in 2007. In the nine seasons since, the Knights have missed the finals six times. Twice they have finished with the wooden spoon. They haven’t gone close to a premiership in the post-Johns era.

A decade on, Newcastle are still rebuilding.

When the Knights run out in Townsville on Saturday night, they are a cautionary tale of the path the Cowboys must not traverse as they prepare for life after Thurston.

The Cowboys must plan for life after Johnathan Thurston.

No-one expects the club to fully replace a legend. The key, though, is having the right building blocks in place to ensure the Cowboys don’t go through the lean stretch that has hit other clubs.

Thurston has hinted at playing on in 2019, but it is more likely he will retire at the end of next year.

That gives the Cowboys about 12 months to decide whether to replace ‘JT’ from within, backing a local product such as Kyle Laybutt, or spend big on the open market.

With the salary-cap uncertainty surrounding the game, scores of quality playmakers will be squeezed on to the market.

Thurston’s cohort Michael Morgan has long been viewed as a possible successor, but I don’t believe he is suited to the role of chief conductor.

Morgan is a talent, a natural footballer, but he’s not the sort of guy that likes to boss teammates around.

If every NRL player became a free agent tomorrow, there’s a hit-list of playmakers the Cowboys should keep an eye on. They are Nathan Cleary, Shaun Johnson, Aidan Sezer and Ashley Taylor.

Ashley Taylor is one of the best young playmakers in the NRL.

All four are capable of playing on the left edge. That complements Morgan, who runs with a natural arc that makes him suited to the right side.

I like what Sezer is doing at Canberra. He is a left-footer, kicks goals and can play to a team structure.

Johnson has a Thurston-style instinctive brilliance. Taylor, at 22, is one of the best rising playmaking talents in the game.

Then there’s Cleary, who continually amazes me with his game management.

For a 19-year-old to have such composure and organisational ability stamps Clearly as a rare talent.