Main content

NRL Telstra Premiership

 
 
 
 
 
Select a match
 

Johnathan Thurston

Cowboys

Cowboys
 
Cowboys

Justin Hodges

Broncos

The true value of Johnathan Thurston in attack is his ability to weigh up the options in front of him – and his favourite play ball comes left with runners in motion. This is where Thurston employs two main options. The first is to run a second-man play with Matt Bowen sweeping around the back in the hope of creating an overlap. However, should the defence over-read the play in an identical situation, Thurston will dummy and run himself.
Johnathan Thurston
 
Justin Hodges
A fit Justin Hodges is worth his weight in gold and that’s exactly what Brisbane got this season. The Australian Test centre enjoyed his first full pre-season in a decade and the Broncos reaped the benefits as he showed all of his trademark class and aggression during Brisbane’s early charge. He remains one of the NRL’s most prolific dummy-half runners and is lethal in one-on-one situations. Hodges ranks third in the comp for offloads (48) and has contributed 81 tackle busts out wide.
GalleryPlayer StatsVideo
GalleryPlayer StatsVideo
 
Johnathan Thurston Cowboys
 
Broncos Justin Hodges
 
Thurston sets up another Cowboys try for Bowen.
North Queensland's right edge has been their go-to zone with the ball in hand, with centre Brent Tate and winger Ashley Graham striking up a lethal combination. Graham has been among the NRL's top try-scorers all year with 21 tries from 22 games.
Bowen's speed and playmaking skills have terrorised opponents all season. He ranks sixth in the NRL for tackle-breaks with 109 as well as producing 24 try assists, 18 line-breaks and scoring 12 tries.
Tamou has averaged 150 metres per game this season " outpointing fellow North Queensland bookend and Queensland Origin prop Matthew Scott (137 metres per game) in the process.
A favourite play of North Queensland captain Johnathan Thurston is to attack down the blind side so it's no surprise that the Cowboys have produced far more short-side plays than any other side in the NRL.
If premierships were won on statistics alone, you could just about post the NRL trophy to Townsville already. The Cowboys rank in the two top sides in the NRL for everything from points scored, tries scored, metres gained, line-breaks and tackle-breaks to decoy runners and support plays.
Bowen bounces onto a Thurston banana kick.
Never rush up on a superstar like Thurston.
From a demoralising low to an exhilarating high, North Queensland put the pain of their opening-round shocker behind them to score a thrilling win over rivals Brisbane in the dying minutes at Suncorp Stadium.
Having returned home for one final season after four years with Penrith, Civoniceva played his 300th career first grade game in Round 16 and in recent weeks has been lauded as one of the greatest forwards of all time as he prepares to draw the curtain on his 15-season career.
A near intercept turns into a Knights nightmare.
The attacking kick has been a mainstay of Brisbane's play this season " and they have been particularly fond of the bomb. The Broncos rank first in the NRL for mid-field bombs (44) and second for both regulation bombs (80) and cross-field kicks (71). They have also attempted more chip kicks than any other side with 28.
Broncos players were left shattered by the severity of a season-ending injury to Test winger Jharal Yow Yeh against South Sydney in Round 8. Yow Yeh suffered a compound fracture of his right ankle, with the bone not only snapping but piercing the skin in what team-mates described as a horrific sight.
No player is as adept at easing the pressure on his forwards as Justin Hodges and his powerful dummy-half running is one of Brisbane's great weapons. In fact, he has run from dummy-half more this season than any other outside back (133 times) and sits third overall behind hookers Issac Luke and Cameron Smith.
Benji Marshall gets blind-sided by a Justin Hodges shoulder.
The big question on everyone's lips this season was how Brisbane would cope without the influence of club legend Darren Lockyer. The answer is that they've had mixed results. With Corey Norman thrown into the mix, they began the season stunningly well and remained in the top four up until Round 20.
The Broncos have produced more runs (594) and more metres (4592) from dummy-half than any other side this season. Their basic game plan is a simple one " quick play-the-balls and easy metres up the middle. They rank third for both dummy-half line breaks (10) and try causes (eight). Justin Hodges (133 runs) and Andrew McCullough (122) lead the way from dummy-half for Brisbane.
A fit Justin Hodges is worth his weight in gold and that's exactly what Brisbane got this season. The Australian Test centre enjoyed his first full pre-season in a decade and the Broncos reaped the benefits as he showed all of his trademark class and aggression during Brisbane's early charge. He remains one of the NRL's most prolific dummy-half runners and is lethal in one-on-one situations.
 

Second-man play

Friday 4th May

Dummy-half damage

Friday 16th March

Second-man play
Dummy-half damage

A favourite play of North Queensland captain Johnathan Thurston is to attack down the blind side (he does exactly the same while playing for both Queensland and Australia) so it’s no surprise that the Cowboys have produced far more short-side plays than any other side in the NRL. Thurston and co. have attacked down the left on 189 occasions this season and 142 on the right for a total of 331 short-side plays – in total 50 more than any other side.

No player is as adept at easing the pressure on his forwards as Justin Hodges and his powerful dummy-half running is one of Brisbane’s great weapons. In fact, he has run from dummy-half more this season than any other outside back (133 times) and sits third overall behind hookers Issac Luke and Cameron Smith.

 
Round 15 Cowboys v Broncos

Round 15 Cowboys v Broncos

Friday 15th June

North Queensland produced a stellar defensive effort to keep Brisbane scoreless as they gritted their teeth to record a 12-0 win at Dairy Farmers Stadium in Round 15.Despite having four players backing up from State of Origin II just a few nights earlier – with Brisbane coach Anthony Griffin opting to rest all of his Origin stars except for Ben Hannant – the Cowboys kept their first clean sheet since 2005 to cement their spot in the top eight.

 
 
CowboysJohnathan Thurston
Vote for Johnathan now
BroncosJustin Hodges
Vote for Justin now