Athletes In the world of professional sport are all blessed with similar talent levels and skill sets, but one characteristic separates the good from the great: A competitive nature.

It's no scoop that Johnathan Thurston has all of the qualities necessary in rugby league; he's tough and gutsy, he has one of the smartest football brains, and he also has the athletic ability to execute the audacious plays that mere mortals wouldn't even dare to attempt. But even as he prepares to enter his 16th NRL season, Thurston is arguably the best player the game has ever seen because of his ability to consistently find the determination and drive to be the best.

There is nothing the 33-year-old has not achieved in rugby league: He's won multiple premierships, Origin series, Dally M Medals, Four Nations titles and a World Cup just to name some of his accolades; but, like all champions, he wants more.

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"It's every player's dream to win a premiership, and I'm like every other player in the competition that wants to be there in the first weekend of October and give myself the opportunity of doing that; that never changes from year to year," Thurston tells ESPN.

"Personally I want to be playing good footy to warrant selection in these representative teams, and to do that I've got to make sure I get the best out of myself week in, week out. I've been able to do that now for a long time so I want to be playing good footy and warrant selection when those representative teams come around. Now that I know my career is coming to an end, it's about making sure I keep my standards high and driving those around me to keep the standards high as well."

Johnathan Thurston dives over for another Queensland try against New South Wales during the Maroons decade of Origin dominance. Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images

Thurston has compiled a resume that is the envy of almost anyone who has laced up a rugby league boot, but he continues to put his body on the line every week. He remains as determined as ever, even though it is human nature to lose focus slightly after goals have been achieved, but he is driven by fear of failure more than the strive for success.

"What drives me now is the players I have a round me, and being the best I can be and getting the best out of the playing group around you," Thurston says. "The playing group is what drives me, and not wanting to let the playing group down; whether that be at the Cowboys, Maroons or in a Kangaroos jersey, I don't want to let those boys around me down."

Johnathan Thurston sparks another Kangaroos raid as Australia pile on the misery against New Zealand in a Trans Tasman Test. Photo by Ashley Feder/Getty Images

Thurston, in the twilight years of his illustrious career, is widely regarded as the best player in rugby league - and many people have even crowned him the greatest the game has ever seen. However, it's a title he shies away from when discussion turns to the likelihood that he will one day be anointed with the highest individual honour of rugby league Immortal.

"It's very humbling when people say that, but for myself it pretty much goes in one ear and out the other," Thurston says.

"There are a lot of great footballers that are waiting for that title -- Mal Meninga, Darren Lockyer and Cameron Smith are up there as well. If it happens it'd be great, but for me at the moment it is very humbling when people talk of me in that way; but it certainly goes in one ear and out the other. I don't want to get bogged down with that type of talk."

Thurston accepts, however, that it may not even be a discussion if not for a difficult decision he made late in 2004.

After helping Canterbury to their most recent premiership in just his 29th NRL appearance, the then 21-year-old made the shock announcement that he had signed a deal to join North Queensland.

The annual Dally M Awards ceremony has almost become a Johnathan Thurston tribute show with the Cowboys superstar being named the NRL's best player a record four times. Photo by Cameron Laird/Getty Images

At the time it was considered a huge step back, leaving the premiers for a relatively new club that had been starved of success since it was established in 1992. But in hindsight, Thurston was demonstrating the same foresight that he shows on the football field: He guided the Cowboys to their first Grand Final appearance in 2005 before engineering the club's maiden premiership exactly a decade later.

Thurston's arrival at the Cowboys was the start of their evolution into an NRL powerhouse, but he knows the club isn't the sole beneficiary from the partnership.

"I've always been grateful that Canterbury gave me an opportunity to achieve my dreams, but I think if I had stayed there it certainly would've taken me a lot longer to get where I am today," Thurston tells ESPN.

"I had to take chance to get out of my comfort zone.

"Moving out of my comfort zone and going to a team that was in need of a half has probably been the making of my football."

A special moment for Johnathan Thurston and his daughter after the Cowboys triumph in the 2015 NRL Grand Final. Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

More importantly, Thurston's move to Townsville was unquestionably the making of him as a person; by his own admission, he had some growing up to do when he left Sydney.

He met his now wife Samantha in 2008, since then he has become a father to two girls, and he credits his family as his most significant triumphs -- and the reasons behind his success.

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"Oh, 100 percent. Anyone that has children would say the same. You just have a whole different perspective and a whole different outlook on life now that you have children."

"Some of the things I used to worry about on and off the field, I don't think twice about now.

"The children in your life put a whole new perspective on the way that you think and the values that you're trying to raise your children with.

"Yeah, it's changed me in every possible way."