Scott on the greatest player he ever played with

North Queensland Toyota Cowboys life member Matt Scott has named Johnathan Thurston as the greatest player he ever played with.

Recently speaking on the Cowboys Then and Now podcast, the two-time Paul Bowman Medallist said while it was a toss-up between Cameron Smith and Thurston, he couldn’t look past his former North Queensland teammate.  

“I have never played with a guy that was more competitive and that brought as much energy,” Scott said.

“In tight situations or under pressure, he was the best I’ve ever seen.”

Scott, who was named co-captain alongside Thurston in 2011, believes that the reason they worked together so well was their different personalities.

“I wasn’t expecting to be named co-captain. I hadn’t captained any junior side leading up to that moment, so it was quite a shock,” he said.

“I was sort of made co-captain to try and take a bit of pressure off [Thurston’s] shoulders. I think the fact that we got along so well and the fact that we were different personalities, it did make a lot of sense really.”

Scott, who was ruled out of the majority of the 2017 season after tearing his ACL in Round 2 against the Brisbane Broncos, spoke about how there were serious discussions with Paul Green about returning early for the Grand Final against the Melbourne Storm.

“I think it was the fact that we were running out of options,” Scott said. “We had had a huge amount of injuries.”

“I was at a stage in my training where I was nearly doing everything. I was still a way off the mark time wise, but physically I felt well enough that I could get through a game.

“I knew I would have been up against it, but I just said to him, 'if there is no other option, I'm willing to take the risk and play.”