Brad Thorn spoke with disarming poignancy on switching to rugby union as a tribute to his late father.
In 2000, Thorn was 25-years-old and one of the biggest rugby league stars in Australia. He was earning good money, playing for his hometown team [Brisbane Broncos], had just claimed his second NRL title and was dating the woman he would go on to marry, Mary-Anne.
Having grown up “a mongrel” – New Zealand born, Australian raised – Thorn made an extremely tough, and risky decision. The All Blacks legend, and Queensland Reds head coach, joined The Hard Yards and recalled how a vow made to his father, a rugby-mad Kiwi, drove him to swap league for union.
“It was brutal,” he begins. “Brutal.
“I’ve always said, if I had’ve known what I was getting into, I wouldn’t have done it. Sometimes it’s not good to know what you’re getting into. It was good that I didn’t know because I had a crack.
“I was born in New Zealand and [rugby] union always meant a lot to me. My father, who was my role model and best mate, died when I was 19. He said to me when there were rumours of it going professional [in the mid 1990s], ‘Once you’ve had a crack at league, maybe you could go back and take that challenge on’.
“There was a lot involved in me going back. It wasn’t just me. There was the connection with my father.
“I went back [joining Canterbury and Crusaders] and a 16-year-old could have told me more about union. It was humbling. It was frustrating; many times.”
Thorn had come from the very height of one game – he was awarded the prestigious Australian Sports Medal in 2000 – and where he knew he could ‘take a scruff’ of any game he wanted.
He found himself having to learn so many basics of rugby – body position, tackling techniques, lineouts and scrums – while trying to survive in an unforgiving environment. Canterbury and Crusaders have a driven, ruthless, winning mentality and they were not interested in being charity cases.
Thorn admitted he initially struggled at No.8 and that he was “embarrassed” by his slow start, but a switch to the second row and pure diligence and extra work away from the training pitches made a massive difference. He says:
“I had to work really hard. I would go to a park with my cousin. He would call, 300 times, different lineout calls and I would move to those positions.
“I would watch footage of games, I would wake up at 5am, hurting and not wanting to go to training, but I persevered and I was humbled. I know character was built within me. I was tested and my faith was massive for me. I relied on God a lot in that time and I felt he helped me to grow.
“I look back on that year in rugby as one of the most important in my life. Would I like to do that again? No!”
Thorn went on to win two national titles with Canterbury, a Tri Nations and Bledisloe Cup and he travelled to the 2003 World Cup with New Zealand. That was his first stint with union. He returned to league in 2007, for two seasons, before finishing out his career in union, winning a rake more trophies that included the 2011 World Cup and, with Leinster, the 2012 Heineken Cup.
From age 4 to age 41, he was one of the best rugby players, league and union.
You can listen to the full Brad Thorn interview from 20:00…
One hell of a ride.
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