Is Johnathan Thurston the GOAT?

[Big Pete]

After winning his forth Dally M medal, the Clive Churchill medal, guiding the Maroons to a record breaking defeat of NSW and the Cowboys to their maiden premiership the question has to be asked, is Johnathan Thurston the best player to ever lace on a boot.

If not, where does he rank?

 

[Big Pete]

I'd actually be interested to break this down.

Judging this is no easy task. Firstly, you'd have to break down JT as a player, his ability to play footy, his strengths, his weaknesses etc. etc. then compare them to other greats like Lockyer, Johns, Smith etc. to create a comparison.

It'd be quite the undertaking, but I think it would be worthwhile.

 

[Unbreakable]

I'd be interested to see a side by side comparison of Johns, Thurston, Lewis & Lockyer in terms of all the important stats.. Tries, Try Assists, Line-Breaks, Line-Break Assists, Forced Drop-Outs.

To create an even playing field the person who compiled these stats would have to take only the stats from games where they played 80 minutes, and at either Five-Eighth or Halfback, the stats would be skewed if you counted Johns' Hooker games, Thurstons' Utility games, Lewis' Lock games or Lockyers' Fullback games. Then add up every stat from these games and divide them by how many games they played that fit the criteria, creating an average for those stats per game.

Then of course you'd have to compare those stats, and then factory in variables like premiership wins, origin wins, dally m awards, and things that aren't judged in numbers like leadership and defensive 1%ers.. You'd still have a pretty hard time splitting them I'd imagine.

 

[vertigo]

I never watched Joey so I cant comment, but he's definitely the best rep football player I've ever seen.

 

[tommy]

In ten years time we'll be having this conversation about someone else . Probably Milford .

 

[Porthoz]

Thurston is up there, but not the GOAT, albeit there isn't that much separating him from Lewis, Locky, Langer, Johns or even Daley, but each has their own strengths, and Thurston never struck me as a clutch player, which some of those others could be. Still a fantastic player of course!

 

[Unbreakable]

Thurston never struck me as a clutch player

 

[Nashy]

Thurston is up there, but not the GOAT, albeit there isn't that much separating him from Lewis, Locky, Langer, Johns or even Daley, but each has their own strengths, and Thurston never struck me as a clutch player, which some of those others could be. Still a fantastic player of course!

You're really going to need to elaborate some more on that.

 

[Alec]

Thurston is up there, but not the GOAT, albeit there isn't that much separating him from Lewis, Locky, Langer, Johns or even Daley, but each has their own strengths, and Thurston never struck me as a clutch player, which some of those others could be. Still a fantastic player of course!

Really? Thurston struck me as an awesome clutch player for the majority of his career. Some of the biggest moments came down to him. Stuff like the linebreak for Tate's try in Origin 3 06, the dummy to win the 08 series...he's had a lot of great moments.

 

[Big Pete]

Earned a name for himself after the 2002 Premier League grand final where he nailed the conversion from the sideline to win the game for the Doggies.

There's been a few occasions where he struggled. The one that comes to mind was the Round 16 2010 clash against Cronulla. Had a shot from right infront to win the game for the Cowboys and somehow missed it. Ever since then, I've been convinced he has to kick it from an angle, if it's too straight forward he'll stuff it (like he did in Origin I 2015 for example).

 

[Foordy]

While winning the Dally M is a good individual honor ... It isn't the be-all end-all IMO. Some one like JT has a better chance than many to win it because he is in a team that, while they have good players, they aren't dominate players. His reputation also gives him votes when others in his team should probably get them instead. The GF was a perfect example of that, he won the CC medal, but he certainly wasn't the best player on the field that match, I don't even think he was the best player on his team, but his reputation and sentiment got him the vote as best on ground.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm biased ... but IMO, Darren Lockyer was a better player than Thurston... not only because he was the best clutch player i've ever seen. but also because i think he was able to control a game better than Thurston is able to,

 

[Alec]

I think Lockyer was the greater player because he dominated in 2 different positions. I think Thurston is probably the better half though.

 

[vertigo]

I think when people think of clutch, they think of clutch moments to win the game.

So often JT will just destroy a team over the course of 20-30 minutes having it won well before full time.

 

[Broncoman]

Thurston is up there, but not the GOAT, albeit there isn't that much separating him from Lewis, Locky, Langer, Johns or even Daley, but each has their own strengths, and Thurston never struck me as a clutch player, which some of those others could be. Still a fantastic player of course!

Thurston not a clutch player?

He has come up with some big plays at some important times over the years.

 

[Morkel]

Thurston is a great individual player. He can set up those around him but it all comes back to him. In fact we've seen that even he struggles when he doesn't have a top-level foil, think without Morgan at the Cows or Cronk in Origin.

Still good enough to be an immortal IMO, and the best since Lockyer.

 

[Foordy]

Thurston is a great individual player. He can set up those around him but it all comes back to him. In fact we've seen that even he struggles when he doesn't have a top-level foil, think without Morgan at the Cows or Cronk in Origin.

Still good enough to be an immortal IMO, and the best since Lockyer.

and Thats a big reason why i would have Locky ahead of Thurston ... Locky won a premiership with Shane bloody Perry as his halfback

 

[Harry Sack]

I think Lockyer was the greater player because he dominated in 2 different positions. I think Thurston is probably the better half though.

3....depending on your line of thinking.

 

[Morkel]

and Thats a big reason why i would have Locky ahead of Thurston ... Locky won a premiership with Shane bloody Perry as his halfback

Read my mind.