Phil Rothfield says Cooper Cronk pushing Johnathan Thurston all the way as game's top halfback Cooper Cronk is in red-hot form for the Storm. RUGBY league has seen some wonderful halfback duels over the years. In the '80s we had Steve Mortimer's brilliance against Peter Sterling's guile. In the '90s it was Ricky Stuart against Allan Langer with a bit of Greg Alexander magic thrown in as well. In the 2000s we had Brett Kimmorley and team-of-the-century halfback Andrew Johns. Kimmorley was so good he even occasionally kept Joey out of Origin and Test teams in the No.7 jersey. Now it's the irrepressible Johnathan Thurston and the exceptional Cooper Cronk. On Saturday night we were treated to another cracking contest between these two champions. Thurston might be wearing No.6 these days but he's still the chief playmaker and does the job of a halfback. Fans have rarely been treated to such an enthralling battle as what we saw in Townsville. You look at their performances and influence on a game and immediately see why NSW coach Laurie Daley is facing such an enormous task to end the Maroons' seven-year reign. No game plan has ever been invented that can contain both of them. They are so far ahead of every other playmaker it's not funny. It's another reason why clubs like St George-Illawarra are seriously struggling. Put Cronk into the Dragons side on Friday night and they would have led the Broncos by 20 at half-time. They had so much possession and so much territory but didn't have the organisational skill to take advantage. If Matty Johns says Thurston will become a better player than his brother, what does that make Cronk? North Queensland's Johnathan Thurston (left) and Melbourne's Cooper Cronk are the two top halfbacks in the game. Picture: Evan Morgan Source: On Saturday night it was the Storm halfback who finished ahead in their personal battle in a performance that was close enough to a perfect 10. He scored two tries and engineered four others. Whether it was his sharp running, long passes, short balls, bombs or grubbers, everything Cronk did proved a handful for the Cowboys. Thurston too had an outstanding game, somehow managing to stand out in a badly beaten side. The Cowboys scored only two tries and he had a hand in both of them. His long passing game kept pressure on the Storm's outside defence. Few teams have ever won premierships without great halfbacks. Souths bombed out last season the moment Adam Reynolds tore his hamstring in the grand final qualifier. It was one of the reasons the Canterbury Bulldogs fell at the final hurdle last season. Kris Keating struggled in the grand final while Cronk played a blinder and won the Clive Churchill Medal. Cronk is an out-and-out champion, right up there with Mortimer, Sterling, Johns, Kimmorley, Stuart, Langer - and Thurston, for that matter, too. Tigers score own goal in their heartland RUGBY league has serious problems in Sydney's west if yesterday's Tigers-Panthers match can't even attract 10,000 fans on a perfect Sunday afternoon. Admittedly it would be hard to pay to watch the Wests Tigers after last Monday's pathetic performance against the Knights. But this was one of only four home games at Campbelltown this year and the first chance in 2013 to watch Benji, Robbie and rest of the boys. Rugby league hasn't had a lot of great promotion in recent weeks because of the drugs crisis. Still, that's no excuse. This columnist has been writing for weeks about the A-League threat in the western suburbs. The Wanderers are eyeing the minor premiership and regularly attract 15,000 at Parramatta Stadium. It's almost impossible to buy one of their jerseys. Next weekend they are sold out for the Sydney FC derby because they know how to promote their game. Their players aren't allowed to ban sections of the media like some Wests Tigers stars. And their promotion of the game is a lesson to every rugby league club. Too late for kids THE NRL has made a mistake with its 8pm Thursday night kick-off time. Last week's game between the Bulldogs and the Eels didn't start until 8.15pm. It's too late to take your kids on a school night and it's why only 25,000 fans turned up. In future the Thursday games should be scheduled for a 7pm start like they are on Monday nights. Channel 9 can still get their prime time audience and I'm sure more fans would attend the games. Sonny Bill's beautiful around the-corner offload that almost put Michael Jennings over for a try against the Warriors. The Tom Waterhouse advertorials on Channel Nine. Bring back Jaimee Rogers. The thug who king hit a Wanderers fans at the A-League. This coward should be locked up. Trent Merrin is far and away the best player at St George Illawarra. He will not only play for NSW in the State of Origin this year but he's a great chance to make the Kangaroos for the World Cup tour. He'll be an even more dangerous player running off Johnathan Thurston and Cooper Cronk passes, rather than Nathan Fein's. Bulldogs fan desperately need a stronger effort from giant secondrower Tony Williams, particularly while key forwards James Graham, Sam Kasiano and Frank Pritchard are sidelined. He was awful against Parramatta. Matt Cooper is looking like one of those footy players who hung around for one season too many. At 33, he's struggling to keep up with the faster game. His hands are letting him down, too. He's had shockers in the Charity Shield and against the Broncos on Friday night.