Johnathan Thurston has taken his final bow in the State of Origin arena with the Queensland great to undergo surgery on his shoulder, ruling him out of next month’s series decider in Brisbane as well as the remainder of the NRL season and the Rugby League World Cup.
His club, the North Queensland Cowboys, confirmed on Friday the 34-year-old, who is to retire from representative football at the end of the year, will not play again in 2017.
“After consultation with club medical and football staff, his management and family, the decision was taken for Thurston to have surgery after he sustained an injury in Wednesday night’s State of Origin match in Sydney,” a club statement read.
The timing of the surgery is still to be determined, but Thurston said recovery time for such an operation is six months.
“I got the scan and the news isn’t good,” he said. “The best decision for myself and the club is to get it done.
“I thought I might have been able to pump one or two more games out but the medical advice is that if you want a healthy life after football, it’s best to get it done now.”
Thurston, who has been struggling with the injury and missed Origin Game I, was cleared to play Game II in Sydney earlier this week, but he reinjured his shoulder when he made a tackle on New South Wales forward Tyson Frizell.
Queensland went on to keep alive their hopes of a series victory with a famous comeback win at ANZ Stadium, secured late on by a Thurston kick, but any hopes of him bowing out in style on 13 July at Suncorp Stadium have been dashed.
Earlier on Friday, Maroons coach Kevin Walters told Triple M Brisbane that Thurston had been “really knocked around” at ANZ Stadium on Wednesday night. “I don’t know how he got through the game,” Walters said.
The news comes as a crushing blow to Queensland’s hopes of retaining the Origin shield. Walters’ side had looked rudderless without Thurston in the opening game, but with him back in the lineup for Game II they appeared a more cohesive unit.
Walters also has to contend with the loss of centre Darius Boyd, who will undergo surgery on a broken thumb and be out of action for six weeks.
Thurston had been set to make his 300th NRL appearance when the Cowboys meet the Panthers on Saturday and was expected to lead the Kangaroos’ World Cup bid when the tournament kicks off in Australia in October.
On his decision to hang up his representative boots at the end of the year, he said he had no regrets.
“I wanted to finish on a high this year with representative football. I’m comfortable with that decision I’ve made to retire from rep football.
“I would love to play at the World Cup but it’s not the reality.”
