Half-back Thurston was one of six players shortlisted for rugby league's world player of the year, which is in association with the Rugby League World magazine.
North Queensland Cowboys co-captain Thurston claimed the top gong in 2013 after winning it 2011 and he would create history by taking out the award for a third time.
Thurston - winner of this year's Dally M Medal - played 21 NRL games in 2014, scoring 67 goals and two tries for the Cowboys, while he completed 255 tackles.
South Sydney Rabbitohs star and 2009 winner Greg Inglis was also nominated for the award, as well as New Zealand four nations winner Shaun Johnson (Warriors), Kiwi Jesse Bromwich (Melbourne Storm), and English pair James Graham (Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs) and Sam Burgess (South Sydney Rabbitohs).
Burgess is eligible for the Golden Boot, despite swapping rugby league for rugby union at the end of the 2014 NRL season.
"Sam Burgess, of course, was unavailable for the Four Nations due to his move to rugby union," Rugby League World editor Gareth Walker said.
"But his contribution to South Sydney's NRL title win was considerable, not least in the Grand Final, when his man of the match display with a fractured cheekbone and eye socket was one of the most iconic rugby league performances of the modern era."
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