Thurston may quit the NRL
RUGBY League's No1 player Johnathan Thurston is considering quitting the NRL in the wake of the party drug allegations surrounding the Queensland Origin team.
After it emerged some players have been mixing sleeping pills with high-energy drinks for four years,
The Sunday Telegraph has learned Thurston is fed up with scrutiny of his private life and is weighing up a $1.1million-a-season offer from Japanese rugby.
However, there is no suggestion he is at the centre of claims some Maroons players mixed Stilnox with energy drink Red Bull before Origin III.
Off contract at the end of 2010, the Cowboys captain is furious with reports he had a heated row with Maroons assistant Neil Henry, also his North Queensland club coach, over allegedly drinking too heavily in the lead-up to Origin III.
As the Queensland Rugby League launched a probe into the allegations, it is understood at least one Maroons star laughed off the drama, claiming hard partying was part and parcel of pre-match camps.
In a controversial aftermath to Queensland's failed bid for a series clean sweep:
Team manager Steve Walters admitted he was unhappy with the conduct of a group of players before game three;
Two NRL clubs, having learned of rumours about possible drug use, tested their Maroons stars upon their return to training;
Veteran prop Steve Price said he had taken sleeping tablets, but only for their intended purpose;
Forward Neville Costigan denied the side had become divided along racial lines.
Representative camps had become a haven for poor behaviour, with three Origin camps in the past five years marred by off-field controversies.
A source close to Thurston revealed the halfback had been at "breaking point'' more than once in recent years, prompting him to seek psychological help 16 months ago.
Reports yesterday alleged Cowboys coach Henry, assistant to Mal Meninga, took Thurston to task for drinking too heavily in the lead-up to the Origin match.
The 26-year-old fired back at Henry, saying he was entitled to "have a life''.
The subsequent fallout has prompted Thurston to assess whether he should follow the lead of former rugby league stars Mark Gasnier and Craig Gower and head abroad.
"I can't guarantee Johnathan will stay at the Cowboys beyond his current deal,'' his manager Sam Ayoub said. "When the time comes, he has instructed me to look at every option, including interest from abroad. In saying that, Johnathan has been with the Cowboys a long time, he's had great success there, and he will give them every chance to keep him."
"The level of expectation is enormous, not only game to game but week to week. JT is under enormous pressure to win games. It's OK for people to want to jump on the bandwagon when he's winning games for Queensland, but then they want to bring him down. A lot of players look for an outlet. If someone offers you $1million to work somewhere else for half as much pressure and stress, what would you do?
"That is the way Johnathan Thurston is feeling.''
Of Thurston's purported spat with Henry, Ayoub said: "There may have been an incident, but it was two human beings who are in each other's lives day in and day out. It wouldn't be healthy if they didn't have a disagreement every now and again. If it was something major, Johnathan would have me involved trying to sort things out with Neil. But that hasn't happened.''
Henry refused to comment on his alleged bust-up with Thurston, but was dismayed by suggestions some Queensland players had dabbled in a cocktail of Stilnox tablets and Red Bull.
"I've only heard about this. I haven't seen evidence of it happening in my time,'' Henry said.
"I haven't got any evidence players were out. I will say it was a difficult preparation to get right because the series had been won. I'm surprised by the story because there is some insinuation that the camp was organised to go drink one day, then rest, then drink, then rest ... it wasn't like that at all. If any players got out and about and did things outside that, that's purely speculation.''
