Johnathan Thurston whacks NSW’s Origin culture

JOHNATHAN Thurston has taken aim at Josh Dugan and Blake Ferguson as he whacked the culture in the NSW Origin side.

Thurston has taken aim at his NSW opponents.

JOHNATHAN Thurston has taken aim at NSW’s Origin culture following news coach Laurie Daley has been sacked after a disastrous 2017 series..

The NSWRL board on Friday decided against offering Daley a new contract as his tenure comes to an end after one win from five series in charge.

The Blues won game one in Brisbane this year but succumbed to some late Thurston magic in game two when the Queensland halfback slotted a conversation from the sideline to give the Maroons victory.

Queensland then dominated game three to win its 11th series in 12 years, prompting NSWRL to conduct a review of the side’s 2017 campaign.

Central to NSW’s dramas this year was Blake Ferguson and Josh Dugan being condemned for breaking camp and drinking in the lead-up to the pasting NSW copped in the Brisbane decider. The pair went to a pub on their day off where they reportedly spent up to eight hours sinking schooners.

Thurston said you would never see that behaviour in the Queensland camp.

“We get put in the same situation as well with Kevvie (coach Kevin Walters) and (former coach) Mal (Meninga) before him, where on our days off they trusted us to do the right thing and basically treated us like adults,” Thurston said on the Triple M Saturday NRL Show.

“With that trust, it’s a mutual respect between the coaching staff and the players. That’s the difference in the culture I believe is that when the coaching staff give you those days off you do it in the right way and in the right manner.

“Some of the boys will go and play golf, some of the boys go sit at a cafe but certainly we’re not on the piss five days out from a game.”

Bad boys.

This year’s campaign will have hurt Daley the most out of his four series losses. Not only did he have to deal with the fallout of Dugan and Ferguson’s drinking session, but he also had to live with knowing his players wasted a golden opportunity to put an end to Queensland’s dominance after a stirring first-up win at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.

Daley also came under heavy fire for backflipping on initial plans to move star forward Andrew Fifita to the bench and starting David Klemmer in game three. The defeat immediately raised speculation Brad Fittler, Andrew Johns or Dean Pay would take over.

Johns slammed NSW’s game plan in an angry tirade after game two, saying it played “dumb” football by failing to target an injured Thurston in the defensive line. He blew up again after game three, saying NSW just “doesn’t get it” when it comes to the Origin arena.

The moment where props Aaron Woods and Andrew Fifita failed to close a gap on their inside, allowing Queensland enforcer Jarrod Wallace to stroll over for a try, perfectly illustrated his point.

But while Johns has been asked numerous times since then if he would consider coaching NSW, he’s poured cold water on the idea saying he doesn’t need that stress in his life.

City Origin coach Fittler previously refused to comment on speculation he would be interested in the role if it became available, saying he wouldn’t disrespect Daley by talking about a job that didn’t yet exist.

But now Daley’s future has been decided, the door is open for the Blues legend to put his hand up as the next NSW coach.

Originally published as Johnathan Thurston whacks NSW’s Origin culture