Thurston better than Johns?

GNR4LIFE

GNR4LIFE

Well-known member
Having won his 4th Dally M last night, I think the argument can now be made that he has surpassed Johns. Also has been a class above Johns at Origin level. What does everyone else think? If it's possible, let's leave state bias out of it.
 
Very different players that I would have liked to see play alongside each other, especially at their prime.
 
IMO Thurston is better than any halfback I have seen play from the Sterling era onwards…. He deserves A G/F this Sunday

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Hard to say… Thurston has been around at the top Longer than Joey was, And they primarily played in a different era. Joey was definitely a better defender!!
A better footballer on his day, I don't know... But definitely a bigger and better champion of the game.
JT has changed the game in so many ways (On and off the field) for the better, I don't think Joey can lay claim to that.
Simply put, JT is the most amazing footballer anyone here will ever see....
A great character and an amazing fella...
 
Both played at different times, realistically who was going to stand in JT''s way yesterday? Inglis is in the worst form of his life, Hayne is gone, Smith is a shell of him old self..There is no competition and to be honest the NRL lacks serious talent, from the top of my head there is RTS and Thurston who have been killing it and RTS is no where near Thurstons class yet.
 
Johns by a length.

JT is bloody good…..but there were no flaws in Joeys game....everything brilliant.

Better defender,more attacking kicks....sharper long passing game...better goal kicker.

And all done while smashing the booze and pingers like a mofo!
 
@ghost said:
And JFTR…..when NSW was smashing QLD by record scores Joey was the lynchpin!
Click to expand...

Johns was never a force in Orgin. Yes, he had some big games at that level, but he was no Wally Lewis. I'd say Jarryd Hayne had a bigger impact in Origin than Johns.
 
Not IMO.

I think Thurston is clearly a very good player.

In his time at the cowboys he has only led the Cowboys to 2 top 4 finishes in 11 seasons (one less than us) and over that period have only won about 6 finals (again less than us). The cowboys have had enough good players that if Thurston was an immortal he'd have done better than that over the period.

Thurston is the king of the big play, however is consistently in the top few for errors and missed tackles every season, Joey and Wally were above Thurston in this department, both amazing defenders and made much less errors.

The Queenslanders have been dominant in his time in SOO, and Thurston, clearly a huge part of that. It must be said though, NSW have also been at their weakest over the same period. Australia from the late 60's has rarely lost test matches, until the last 7 or 8 years, where the Kiwis have won a few big ones against us, and most recently have had the wood on us. I think Australian footy in general is a little below its peak at the moment, (mainly cause NSW has gone through a bit of a doldrums). However this last paragraph is only very secondary to my main point and that is in regards to the Cowboys lack of top level success and Thurstons errors and defence being a factor in that. (only compared to the very best)
 
Johns wasn't that much a better defender than JT in my opinion

Actually in some situations , especially cover defending JT was actually better

And goalkicking wise they would have been very similar percentage wise

Johns win the strength battle in the running game , but JT is much quicker and can hold his speed for much longer

Be interesting to see each players win % as well

Thurston is the ultimate competitor , he never gives up

As a whole package Thurston wins over Johns
 
@Goose said:
Not IMO.

I think Thurston is clearly a very good player.

In his time at the cowboys he has only led the Cowboys to 2 top 4 finishes in 11 seasons (one less than us) and over that period have only won about 6 finals (again less than us). The cowboys have had enough good players that if Thurston was an immortal he'd have done better than that over the period.

Thurston is the king of the big play, however is consistently in the top few for errors and missed tackles every season, Joey and Wally were above Thurston in this department, both amazing defenders and made much less errors.

The Queenslanders have been dominant in his time in SOO, and Thurston, clearly a huge part of that. It must be said though, NSW have also been at their weakest over the same period. Australia from the late 60's has rarely lost test matches, until the last 7 or 8 years, where the Kiwis have won a few big ones against us, and most recently have had the wood on us. I think Australian footy in general is a little below its peak at the moment, (mainly cause NSW has gone through a bit of a doldrums). However this last paragraph is only very secondary to my main point and that is in regards to the Cowboys lack of top level success and Thurstons errors and defence being a factor in that. (only compared to the very best)
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You are kidding Goose

You are comparing the Knights to the Cowboys , not Johns v Thurston

The best Knights side that Johns played with would be far better than the current Cowboys side which in my opinion is the best Cowboys side Thurston has played with
 
@happy tiger said:
Johns wasn't that much a better defender than JT in my opinion

Actually in some situations , especially cover defending JT was actually better

And goalkicking wise they would have been very similar percentage wise

Johns win the strength battle in the running game , but JT is much quicker and can hold his speed for much longer

Be interesting to see each players win % as well

Thurston is the ultimate competitor , he never gives up

As a whole package Thurston wins over Johns
Click to expand...

http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/players/johnathan-thurston/summary.html

http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/players/andrew-johns/summary.html

Johns overall Win percentage is better….Thurston figures are inflated by his time with the Dogs where he played 29 games mainly from the bench and the Dogs won 80% of their games in the salary cap cheating scum days...
 
Thurston as good a defender as Johns, that is ridiculous.

The cowboys have had strong sides for the whole period that Thurston has been there, if he was as good as the immortals, he would have got them into the top 4 more than twice, they have also only made the finals 6/11 as well.

The only player to have made more errors than Thurston is in the last decade is Benji Marshall. Thurston has been in the top error makers every year of his career. I think this hurts his teams consistency, taking him outside the very best in the game.

Fittler, Lockyer, Sterling, Wally, Langer, Stuart, Terry Lamb all played in good teams, but all consistently got there teams into the top 4, giving them a chance to win the comp.

Thurston hasnt done that.
 
The error count point is largely irrelevant considering for so many years Thurston has been the only option the Cowboys have had. Great players have their hands on the ball as often as possible, and in JT's case even more so with a mediocre team around him, of course he'll make more errors.
I didn't see/can't remember much of Johns, so I won't take a side, but Thurston is the purest footballer in the comp today.
His passing, kicking, running and vision are all exceptional, and his kick chase is consistently the best.

If Hayne stays I think he surpasses Thurston, but JT is the best I've seen.

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if he wins the GF then yes, probably.

at the moment its pretty close. Joey had a bigger impact at club level, JT bigger impact/longer time at origin.
 
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