Rivalry for Nines captaincy role heats up
13 January, 2017
Rivalry for Nines captaincy role heats up between Cowboys stars Johnathan Thurston and Gavin Cooper
He’s rated by many as the greatest NRL player of
all time and he has led his club for the best part of a
decade, however playmaker Johnathan Thurston won’t
necessarily have a ‘C’ beside his name when he lines up
for the Cowboys at the Downer NRL Auckland Nines in
February.
Back rower Gavin Cooper has traditionally led
the Cowboys in Auckland – and he’s done the job pretty
darn well. The rampaging Cooper was named in the ‘team of
the tournament’ as he captained the Cowboys to the
inaugural 2014 Nines title.
“He’s been the
captain of the Nines team for the last few years so we’ll
have to wait and see,” says Thurston, who has captained
the club’s NRL side since 2007 and led it to its maiden
NRL premiership in 2015.
“He reminds me and the rest of
the playing group all the time that he was the first captain
to bring a trophy to the Cowboys. So we might have to
paper-scissors-rock off to see who captains the team at the
Nines,” Thurston quipped.
Rivalry for this coveted position will likely be discussed next week with Thurston due to resume training with the Cowboys squad on Monday. Thurston has been working hard on his fitness since the start of the year to ensure he is up to rigours of the NRL Nines at Eden Park on February 4 and 5.
“I’ve
been working on my fitness since the New Year making sure
I’m up to scratch so the body is in good nick and I can
play [in Auckland],” says the Cowboys playmaker.
Having
previously sat out the Nines due to his heavy commitments,
Thurston once again committed he would be playing at the
2017 tournament and said it was great to have the chance to
play in Auckland.
“It doesn’t matter who you
talk to, all the boys really enjoy the (Nines) concept.
It’s a fun weekend. Being on the sidelines last year you
could feel the atmosphere. It’s exciting – the fans
really get behind it and make it what it is.
“From all
the reports you hear the boys have a lot of fun. Whoever you
talk to from a lot of clubs, they always enjoy the weekend.
It’s the first time I’ll be a part of it so I am looking
forward to it.”
With Thurston in the line-up the
Cowboys can be expected to have plenty of tricks up their
sleeve, however adherence to the game’s fundamentals would
be the ultimate key to success, Thurston
believes.
“We’ll be working on a few things. It will
be my first time playing so I’m not exactly sure what to
expect, but it’s obviously an open style sort of game so
hopefully we can turn around a little bit of ruck speed and
play off the back of that.
“The basic fundamentals of
rugby league still need to be applied – a good kicking
game, field position and generating a bit of ruck speed and
go forward - and if you can do that you’ll be pretty
successful.”
SIDEBAR
Thurston to leave the
dabbing to Shaun Johnson
It started with a video from
rappers Migos and quickly spread into the world of
professional sports thanks to Carolina Panthers quarterback
Cam Newton. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Shaun Johnson busted it
out at the 2016 NRL Nines and of, late, it has even caused a
stir in the world of test cricket thanks to Usman Kwaja’s
efforts. But don’t expect legendary Cowboys playmaker
Johnathan Thurston to be breaking out a dab when he makes
his first appearance at the NRL Nines over Waitangi
Weekend.
“I haven’t got too many thoughts on try
celebrations because I don’t normally score any,”
Thurston said. “I’ll have to have a chat with a few of
the boys and see if we can come up with a
celebration!”
And he’d definitely leave the dabbing
to Johnson, he said.
“Shaun’s that type of
player. The game suits his style and he crosses the line
very often in this format so he’d better come up with a
few celebrations for the crowd.”
Tickets to the Downer
NRL Auckland Nines can be purchased at Ticketek
www.ticketek.co.nz/nines
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EVENT DETAILS:
DATE:
SAT 4 & SUN 5, FEBRUARY 2017
VENUE: EDEN PARK,
AUCKLAND
All 16 NRL clubs together in
Auckland
Featuring 288+ star players
48 Australian
internationals; 44 Kiwi test players; 45 State of Origin
stars; 68 Pacific Nation reps have appeared at the NRL
Auckland Nines so far
31 action packed games
9 players
per team, 9 minute halves
NZ $2.6 million dollars + in
prize
money
ends