Queensland and Australian star Johnathon Thurston (pictured) says he believes the time is right to begin his transition away from rep footy.

Thurston has announced that the 2017 season will be his last in both the Maroons and Kangaroos jersey.

This will be the First Nations stars 16th in the NRL and he says while it wasn’t  an easy decision to make, it was one that had to be made.