Johnathan Thurston

[happy_tiger]

I know there will be a few if's in this , but when I was checking how old he actually was I noticed that his grandmother was Tongan and he was approached to play for NZ (DOB is actually ANZAC Day)

Just wondering if he had chosen to play for NZ /Tonga how much difference this would have made to SOO football and especially seeing the Tongans got pretty close to a WC Final , how they would gone if he had played for Tonga last year (fully fit of course )??

Thoughts anyone ??

 

[Munk]

If he had of played for Tonga or NZ he would only be classed as an above average half instead of future immortal match winner as SOO transforms great players to elite and being a Kangaroo completes your education as a player.

 

[Munk]

If through sliding doors, he never played origin and only test football for Tonga, Id suggest his career would already be over as the finishing touches that make a player great are learned only through Origin and high exposure to tier 1 football.
He would be considered a hardworking yet limited, above average half instead of future immortal.

 

[Needaname]

Didn’t realise it was Tongan, always read half NZ half Indigenous Australian.
Certainly doesn’t have a Tongan frame so would never had picked it.
My feeling with around that time was, those that had the choice, if they we good enough they played SOO and therefore Australia and then those that had the choice but weren’t, they’d declare for NZ, not sure if Benji had the choice, but the attitude in regards to Representing NZ changed when K Hunt defected and F Prichard stuck solid, if anyone remembers that time / exchanges that took place.