Johnathan Thurston says he'll strongly consider joining Queensland's State of Origin coaching staff if offered a role for the 2021 series.
The Maroons legend, who made 37 Origin appearances is widely tipped to serve as an assistant under newly appointed Queensland coach Paul Green.
"Once you're in it it's very consuming, I love the Maroon jersey everything about it, so yeah if I get asked yeah I'd certainly consider it," Thurston said.
"I've got to talk to the boss first because four young kids at home, eight, six, four and two this year they are. The eight-year-old is going on 18 so it's tough times for the wife."
Thurston and Green combined as captain and coach to deliver the Cowboys' first NRL premiership in 2015 and JT believes his former mentor will make a seamless transition into Origin.
"There's been a lot of talk about his intensity and things like that, but it's State of Origin, it's the best players you're working with," Thurston said.
"It's about making sure everyone understands their role in the team and that's what he brought to the Cowboys.
"He's one of the best footy brains going round Greeny, so I'm predicting our boys will go back-to-back with him at the helm."
Thurston's home town of Townsville will host the first major match of the year when the NRL All Stars game kicks off on Saturday and he's advocating for North Queensland to stage a State of Origin match as well.
"Yeah 100 percent. Not only can we hopefully attract an Origin game but hopefully we can attract teams from other codes to come and play because it's a world class stadium it's a world class high performance centre … so that's what we want."
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.