Much as I've never been a fan of the way the media trumps up certain players in this era as "muh greatest player of all time", I don't think it diminishes him at all, the reality is that Paul Green has worked at building a team for after Thurston is gone. I'm sure many have said that Taumalolo, Coote, Feldt, Morgan and Cooper have been just as big of a factor in ensuring the success of the Cowboys. Thurston brings that X factor though, he does it in Origin as well where games that his team should lose that he can pull magic plays out of his ass.
By that same token though, I don't like the extreme hype the media gets into now. Smith, Slater, Cronk, Thurston, Inglis, etc. are all "future immortals". I mean goddamn, there are 8 immortals total over the course of a hundred years+ game, you can't then have five in a single generation.