Johnathan Thurston says current crop of Cowboys whiz kids are best yet
MAROONS champion Johnathan Thurston rates North Queensland’s posse of young guns the best batch the Cowboys have produced in 20 years.
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MAROONS champion Johnathan Thurston rates North Queensland’s posse of young guns the best batch the Cowboys have produced in 20 years.
Thurston says the Cowboys’ “Super Seven” — Jason Taumalolo, Coen Hess, Kalyn Ponga, Javid Bowen, Kyle Feldt, Patrick Kaufusi and Gideon Gela-Mosby — is evidence the club has the greatest nursery in rugby league.
NRL rivals Penrith have long been regarded as having rugby league’s most fertile nursery, with the western Sydney giants possessing more than 9000 registered juniors. But Thurston believes the Cowboys’ crop of whiz kids is a tribute to the development systems that helped deliver North Queensland’s maiden premiership two years ago.
Asked if the current contingent are the most talented in the Cowboys’ history, Thurston said: “Yes, certainly.
“We’re blessed to have a big (development) footprint and we are giving kids opportunities to play for their local team in the NRL. That’s what the club was designed to do.
“Kids don’t have to move to Sydney or Brisbane anymore to play in the NRL, they can stay in North Queensland and represent the Cowboys.
“It’s unfortunate with some injuries we’ve had, but the positive is that it gives our young guys an opportunity to understand what it takes to win game and play at a high-level, week in, week out.”
Feldt, 25, was a member of the Cowboys’ 2015 premiership team. Kiwi Test hulk Taumalolo, 23, is the reigning Dally M Medallist and the first player in NRL history to be handed a 10-year contract.
The precocious Ponga, 19, was blooded in a semi-final against Brisbane last year, while Hess, 20, and Bowen, 24, have started this season in red-hot form.
The 23-year-old Kaufusi has impressed filling the void for injured enforcer Matt Scott. Then there’s the flying Gela-Mosby, who made his NRL debut against the Titans eight days ago.
The 20-year-old, who scored 53 tries in 44 NYC games, crossed against the Rabbitohs on Friday night and is threatening Broncos centre James Roberts as rugby league’s fastest man.
Cowboys five-eighth Michael Morgan said the emergence of such a talented group could be traced to the cultural standards being driven by co-captains Thurston and Scott.
“It’s the best group I’ve seen in my time here,” said Morgan, a member of the Cowboys’ 2011 NYC grand-final team.
“When I came through the under-20s, we had a pretty talented squad, but this is the best batch I’ve seen.
“Javid Bowen is a perfect example of how our system here can improve the individual. He is playing some outstanding football.
“The club is developing players well and with the culture here, guys know if they are in the first-grade squad, they are there for a reason.
“If they are called upon for an opportunity, it’s expected they will come in and do the job. It starts at the top. Paul Green is a smart coach and the young blokes learn a lot from ‘JT’ (Thurston) and Scott, who drive the culture here.”
Green is disappointed to lose Ponga to Newcastle next season but is banking on Taumalolo and Hess and the other young guns ensuring the Cowboys remain a force for the next decade.
“You see them as young guys and it’s really rewarding for everyone at the club when you see them actually fulfil that potential,” Green said.
“They’re not there yet either, as a group they know they’ve got a little way to go.
“As young guys that’s part of that learning process of developing into an NRL player — how to be consistent and how to make sure you’re on in the right areas of the game for the whole game. But all of our young guys are improving each week which is exciting.”
Originally published as Johnathan Thurston says current crop of Cowboys whiz kids are best yet
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