Inside Sport recently caught up with North Queensland Cowboys legend and Skins ambassador Johnathan Thurston to gauge his thoughts on a range of issues. The Maroons great discussed things such as why today’s young players are under more pressure than when he was starting out, where his Cowboys can improve on the park, and just how important rugby league is to Indigenous kids. Our May edition features JT on the cover - there’s a six-page feature story on the great man inside. Before you go out a score a copy, take in this quick Q and A with the man with the famous kookaburra laugh …

What are your earliest memories of playing rugby league?

“Probably being a ball boy for my dad’s local team in Brisbane. From the age of four or five, I was the ball boy for his team that he played in. That’s probably my earliest memory of rugby league. He played for the Acacia Ridge Hotel Warriors in the local Brisbane comp.”

And what about your most cherished moments from that amazing run of eight-straight State Of Origin series wins for the mighty Queensland Maroons?

“There’s a couple. Obviously Game Three of 2006 when Locky scored that try; that was our first series win on the back of losing three series in a row. That one sticks out in the memory, especially. The 2010 series also sticks out; that was the whitewash. They were all great series to win, but off the top of my head, they’re the two which I cherish the most.”

Your first grade career kicked-off all the way back in 2002. What would that younger version of JT think of today’s rough and tumble NRL world?

“There have been massive changes since then. Obviously the NYC competition, which is the pathway for the younger players to come through now. I think the younger players today have a lot more pressure on them than I had when I was coming through. I would wash cars for a bit, and then go and train in the afternoon. I did a traineeship in hospitality as well back then, as well as my footy training. But these boys today are expected to hold full-time jobs or to be studying as well as playing footy. They have a lot of pressures on them outside of footy and certainly within the game; the pressures of playing every week and training so many hours every week. No doubt those pressures are a lot higher than when I was coming through. How would a younger me handle it? I’m not too sure. Hopefully I’d be able to get through it.”

You’re just as famous for your on-field motivational speeches to your Cowboys team-mates as you are for your rugby league skills … what exactly are you yelling to your blokes out there?

“I know the boys are all looking towards me; reading my body language. A lot of people know I wear my heart on my sleeve. I need to make sure I’m leading by example out on the field. I try and make sure the boys are calm and that they don’t panic.”

Don’t miss our special six-page feature story on JT in the May 2015 edition of Inside Sport – ON SALE 16 April.