T20 Black Clash: NRL legend Johnathan Thurston lays down challenge to Team Rugby

Get ready for some banter and a dash of rugby league grit on the cricket field because NRL legend Johnathan Thurston is gearing up for the T20 Black Clash in Mount Maunganui, and he’s not holding back.

The man known for his clutch plays, tough playing style and infectious laugh has thrown down the gauntlet to Team Rugby. Accompanying his signature chuckle, Thurston made it clear to the Herald that he won’t be sledging the likes of Brian Lara, Richie McCaw and Kieran Read, however, he added: “If they do run at me, I might spear-tackle them.”

Fresh off being named a wildcard for Team Cricket alongside stars like captain Dan Vettori, Nathan McCullum and Grant Elliott, in un-Australian fashion, the former Cowboys, Australia and Queensland halfback is no stranger to intense competition. Now, he’s swapping the footy field for the cricket pitch in what promises to be a memorable clash.

Talking about his excitement for the match, Thurston, whose dad hails from New Zealand, said: “I’m excited to grace the field with some of the greats of cricket and rugby as well. To have that opportunity to be on the field. I was a mad cricket fan when I was growing up.”

As for chucking on the pads and heading out to the crease to bat, Thurston, ever humble, joked about spending some quality time in the nets, saying: “I don’t want to make a fool of myself.”

Johnathan Thurston is clapped off the field in his final NRL match against the Gold Coast Titans in round 25, 2018. Photo / SMP Images

Vettori said Team Cricket was “stoked” to have the “proven winner” on board.

“You just know he’ll pull out something special on the day. Legends like that always do.”

Vettori said Thurston scored more points in his rugby league career than he did in one-day internationals – Thurston scored upwards of 3000 points across the NRL, State of Origin, tests for Australia and representative All-Stars matches. Vetorri scored 2253 runs in 295 ODI matches.

“That’s pretty freakish,” Vetorri said. “Hopefully, that translates into some big numbers at the Black Clash.”

Asked about the upcoming NRL season and what he hoped to see from the Warriors, who had one of their better seasons in recent years during the 2023 campaign, Thurston said it was “a very successful year” from where they had been previously.

But he said they would have to work even harder in 2024 with teams gunning to try and run them down, likening the situation to his old club, the Cowboys, who went from rags to riches in the 2022 season but struggled to continue that form in 2023.

Earlier this year, Thurston was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.

He was the only player to play in all 24 games of Queensland’s eight-year State of Origin winning streak from 2006 to 2013, and played 36 consecutive Origin matches from his debut in 2005. He scored a State of Origin record of nine goals during the 2015 State of Origin series in which they beat New South Wales 52–6, and co-captained the North Queensland Cowboys to their inaugural NRL Premiership that same year.

In 2015, he became the first-ever four-time Dally M Medallist for the NRL season’s best player, and later that year became the first-ever three-time winner of the Golden Boot Award for the World’s best player.

Luke Kirkness is an Online Sports Editor for the NZ Herald. He previously covered consumer affairs for the Herald and was an assistant news director in the Bay of Plenty. He won Student Journalist of the Year in 2019.