I don't think Thurston is playing bad in SOO, I think its more a case of him and Cronk not having the right combination. Lockyer and Thurston had the best halves combination at representative level, and I really think that't what's affecting Thurston's game. Its more a case of two halfbacks in the team. I think what's most concerning is the lack of quality five-eighths in the NRL. Everyone seems to be halfbacks playing at five-eighth. Since Lockyer there hasn't been a specialist five-eighth.
That being said, I think DCE isn't playing great and I'd like to see Hunt in the starting side against Samoa, with DCE coming off the bench. Hunt definitely added a bit of spark which lifted the team. Hunt seemed to gel nicely with Smith and Cronk, especially since it was his debut game playing with those guys. I'd love to see what he could do with those guys with the more game time.