'No chance' of Thurston making Origin return

Johnathan Thurston has rubbished suggestions he could make a shock State of Origin comeback for Queensland Maroons following Cameron Smith's retirement from representative rugby league.

Melbourne Storm hooker Smith announced on Tuesday he will no longer be available for the Maroons or Australia.

That decision prompted calls for Thurston to reverse his retirement from the representative arena, but the North Queensland Cowboys half-back insists there is no chance of that happening.

"My representative career is well and truly over, let me make that clear," said Thurston.

"I'm no chance, [Maroons coach Kevin Walters] would be really scraping the barrel coming back to me."

Thurston went on to highlight the many options available to Queensland, whose 2018 Origin team will take on a very different look in the absence of two iconic figures.

"We've got some really exciting halves playing at the moment," Thurston added. "Cameron Munster is on fire at Melbourne, Benny Hunt is on fire at St George, Michael Morgan has played in that role before and can get the job done, [Daly Cherry-Evans] has played Origin before and so had Anthony Milford so we've got loads of depth there.

"It's a new era for the Queensland team and I'm really excited for what lies ahead."

Game one of this year's Origin series takes place at the MCG on June 6.