Johnathan Thurston wants $1 million a year to switch rugby codes
By Peter Badel
December 20, 2009
North Queensland Cowboys halfback Johnathan Thurston wants $1 million a season from the Australian Rugby Union to switch codes.
Thurston's hefty asking price became public knowledge as dual international Wendell Sailor urged the Cowboys, Queensland and Kangaroos maestro to remain in the NRL, saying he would be "bored to tears" in rugby.
The Kangaroos playmaker stunned rugby league when he revealed that he was contemplating a cross-code switch with a view to representing Australia at the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
But Thurston's manager, Sam Ayoub, says the star halfback will seek a seven-figure sum to change codes.
"He'd have to look for at least a million dollars (to go to rugby)," Ayoub said.
"It would take a lot to entice him away from what he has got in rugby league. He has representative opportunities, and he loves playing for Queensland and Australia.
"An asking price like that would not be unreasonable for one of the best players in the world."
The Australian Rugby Union is almost certain to baulk at Thurston's price tag, with Wallabies five-eighth Matt Giteau and former skipper Stirling Mortlock understood to be the union's top earners with base deals around $500,000 a season.
With match payments, a top Wallabies player stands to pocket around $700,000 annually, excluding private sponsorships.
Thurston could earn $1 million a year in rugby with endorsements, but Sailor believes the Cowboys star should abandon any notion of switching codes.
"I personally hope he stays in the NRL," said Sailor, whose NRL stints with Brisbane Broncos and St George Illawarra were punctuated by a five-season tenure in rugby.
"He would get bored to tears with the style of the game (in rugby).
"Of the guys that have gone over to rugby, most have come back, as I did.
"Rugby league has a better brand, there is no doubt about that. Rugby union at the moment is a bore-athon.
"The one thing rugby can offer you is a great lifestyle. Thursto could play at Twickenham, in South Africa, France and Japan.
"His body has taken a fair bit of a whack so it depends on what Thursto wants.
"But I think JT would get so bored that he wouldn't know what to do. He would succeed at the game with ease but he would get so bored with it, simple as that.
"He's a player who would love confrontation, (but) he wouldn't make many tackles (in rugby), he wouldn't be in the game as much.
"If he wants a new experience, good luck to him. But I reckon he'd really miss rugby league."
Gold Coast Titans utility Mat Rogers, another dual international, is also adamant that Thurston will miss the week-to-week passion of the NRL if he switches codes.
"If he has a goal and wants to do it for the right reasons, I'd wish him all the best," the former Wallabies utility said.
"I have no doubts he would play for Australia. A lot of league players who go to union would play for Australia.
"But it's not a simple transition. There's a lot to it.
"I don't know his rugby background but he's a natural footballer, he just knows where to be.
"As a single bloke travelling around the world, it can be the best time of your life.
"But the tribalism that surrounds rugby league, I love that. I love the fans, I love going to a Leichhardt Oval or Shark Park. You don't experience that in Australian rugby. You play Super 14 and Tests, and it's a different audience.
"If he goes, he will play for the Wallabies, absolutely.
"I'd play him at 10. He couldn't play halfback, he's a ball player, he'd kill it at five-eighth."
The Sunday Mail (Qld)
