Johnathan Thurston nearly walked away from rugby league as a teenager

THE legendary man we know as Johnathan Thurston could have been lost to the rugby league world, and it was all because of a Broncos tracksuit.As excerpts of his autobiography are released, so are details about Thurston’s life and career — one that almost never was.The 35-year-old retired at the end of this season after a glittering NRL career, including four Dally M Medals, two NRL premierships, 38 Tests for Australia and 37 games for
Queensland.However, in his book he reveals he almost walked away from the game as a teenager because the Broncos overlooked him repeatedly.When he was 13 he first saw former Knights footballer Dane Campbell in a Broncos tracksuit, and every year more kids would get signed to the club.Thurston wrote: “I’m better than him.”And the snub almost turned him off rugby league altogether.“I didn’t care if I never played rugby league again. And it was all over a tracksuit,” he wrote.