Rugby tells Thurston he's dreaming

[jargan83]

you can tell the other code is struggling

Based on increased Mungo attendances and much larger TV ratings?

[benny]

Isn't JT on something like $1m a year (with endorsements) with the Cowboys ? - I'll be corrected, and probably by you Jargs.

But going into bat for JT for a moment, he's done all he can in RL, Aussie WC Winner/ Tri Nations Winner / Daily M Medal / Premierships in Reserve, Firsts /Golden Boot for NRL / State of Origin / Capt state,team, nation... the list goes on, maybe he has thought to himself there is nothing more to gain in NRL and banging his head against the wall with the single minded David Gallop.

But on the negitative side from JT, he's gone about it the wrong way with the price tag and he hasn't helped it any better with his size and as we've said here, stick with the code you initally pulled your boots on with and made a name for yourself.

[jargan83]

Isn't JT on something like $1m a year (with endorsements) with the Cowboys ? - I'll be corrected, and probably by you Jargs.

I'm actually not sure what he earns, wouldn't surprise me if it were close to the $1 million mark once you factor his endorsements etc

[Burgs]

It would seem that Mr Ayoub has no plans to rep Union players any time in the future...

[zimeric]

it also appears that some mischievious Journo has listened in on some ARU official reading the newspaper report of JT's proported move to Union and used his comments as the basis for this Piece.... Just a pity that Mr Ayoub is so short sighted as to not have seen right through the nonsense and decided to go on a Union Bashing tirade!

[GIGS20]

I agree Zim. If you read the original article, all it goes on is the ARU seemingly telling the franchises that if approached by Mr Ayoub, they wouldn't be stumping up the sort of scratch he was looking for in League........There might me more, or less to it than that, but that seems to be the only actual statement.

[TOCC]

Unless I'm mistaken that story has not surfaced in the media so how about telling us how you know this? Unless you have definite knowledge of that incident you are doing the bloke a grave injustice.

grave injustice my ass, i heard it from reliable sources, i belive the rumours did surface in the media, however the cowboys went into damage control and suppressed them

[AndyS]

Mr Ayoub comes across as a right tool and bulls**t artist! I don't know whether "Not once have I or Johnathan or anyone associated with us picked up the phone and called anybody at the ARU or any other franchise in Australia" is technically true, but wasn't it Ayoub who also said "I can confirm that there was an approach from someone representing Melbourne and I've put that to Johnathan." and Thurston who said said "I can see myself as a Wallaby"? (http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/spo...-1225817884008)?

And what about when Ayoub also said "He'd have to look for at least a million dollars (to go to rugby)" (http://twf.com.au/showthread.php?t=24384). That is a little bit different from no interest. It is a bit like the old joke about the businessman who mistook a woman in a hotel bar for a working girl. When she took affront and asked "What kind of girl do you think I am?", he apologised but posed the hypothetical "not even for 10 million dollars?" When she conceded that that might be different, he offered her $200, on the basis that they had established what kind of girl she was and now they were haggling.

[beige]

the cowboys went into damage control and suppressed them

Not commenting one way or the other about the story's reliability, but I have heard journalists say that the Cowboys are pretty good at crushing those kinds of stories up there in Townsville.

[MI5_Dog]

grave injustice my ass

Your ass is a grave injustice?

He slept with one of the blokes wives at the Cowboys, now i dont care how young he was at the time or how drunk, they shows a serious flaw in his personality and grip on reality.

I thought that was standard practice for the NRL? Don't they have to sleep with someone elses wife before they are considered for a contract?

[TOCC]

the rumour surfaced at a time when News Corp were starting the process of selling the Cowboys, now i guess you have to ask what would the loss of Thurston do to the value of the Cowboys and the attraction to buy hem.

[shasta]

grave injustice my ass, i heard it from reliable sources, i belive the rumours did surface in the media, however the cowboys went into damage control and suppressed them

That sort of story always comes from "reliable sources". Lots of times it's a case of no smoke without fire. Sometimes it's just bullshit too. Long as your happy to repeat it. Most times clubs go into "damage control" things unravel pretty quickly and they end up worse off. If the Cowboys media manager was able to make a story like that go away with a player of Thurston's profile, he's done well.

Same as the stories about who put what contract figure to who. The journos have to write something to keep their jobs. Who knows what's true and whats made up? One thing that's common tough, is player agents use the press to leverage a player's contract figure upwards. Doesn't seem the case here so far.

[TOCC]

That sort of story always comes from "reliable sources". Lots of times it's a case of no smoke without fire. Sometimes it's just bullshit too. Long as your happy to repeat it. Most times clubs go into "damage control" things unravel pretty quickly and they end up worse off. If the Cowboys media manager was able to make a story like that go away with a player of Thurston's profile, he's done well.

Same as the stories about who put what contract figure to who. The journos have to write something to keep their jobs. Who knows what's true and whats made up? One thing that's common tough, is player agents use the press to leverage a player's contract figure upwards. Doesn't seem the case here so far.

quit the patronising, i dont talk shit for the sake of talking shit

[shasta]

Like I said, long as you're happy.

[welshrugbyfan]

Deja vu all over again.

WRLF (and others from the NH) still applying NH Rugby rhetoric to the Australian (or at least NSW/Qld situation). I know you have company around here, but it's still the same old same old.

It's the professional era and it's all about the money. The player market will decide who plays where and what code. Like it or not.

Leauge can be a good game at times, not often enough for me though to watch each week.

I respect players more when they say "Union sucks I'm a league man" and vice versa.

Pick your code and stick at it. We'll have soccer players switching codes before long.