Thurston ready to face Kiwis

Australia lynchpin Jonathan Thurston says he’s fit and ready to face New Zealand in Sunday’s Four Nations warm up match.

Thurston has enjoyed a month-long break from the game after his North Queensland side were beaten by eventual Premiers Manly at the qualifying finals stage.

Previous to that he had spent six weeks on the sidelines with a knee injury suffered playing in Queensland’s deciding Origin victory over New South Wales.

“It (my knee) is pretty good,” said Thurston.

“Getting knocked out in the first week of the finals you get a few weeks to get over the niggles and I have trained a pretty intensely over the past couple of weeks and tested everything out.

“The body has pulled up good from what I have done.

“I’ve lacked a bit of game time but my training has been pretty intense over the past couple of weeks, so it has just been good to get the ball back in my hands during this week and make sure we are getting some mobility and get some crispness with our attack and getting our defensive structures right.”

Thurston is equally concerned with handling the talented New Zealand backline which will consist of premiership winning five-eighth Kieran Foran and Wests Tigers star Benji Marshall.

“You always enjoy playing against those type of players,” he added.