Thurston cleared after All Stars injury

Precautionary scans and X-rays today have cleared North Queensland co-captain Johnathan Thurston of serious injury after he hurt the lower part of his right hand playing for the Indigenous All Stars in the Harvey Norman All Stars match in Brisbane on Saturday night.

Thurston received a knock while attempting a tackle in the second half of his team’s win against the NRL All Stars and came off the field for a short period.

Although still suffering some pain today, the medical clearance means the champion five-eighth will make the trip to Cairns with his Cowboys teammates on Thursday ahead of the pre-season trial against St George Illawarra at Barlow Park on Saturday night.

Cowboys coach Neil Henry will name his team for that game tomorrow, with some of the club’s regular first graders, including co-captain Matthew Scott, Gavin Cooper, Dallas Johnson, Glenn Hall, Ashton Sims and Antonio Winterstein expected to make their first appearance for the year.