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// NZ RUGBY WORLD // JUNE/JULY 2015
1994
Makes his team
debut for the
Brisbane Broncos in
Round 12 of the
Winfield Cup and
goes on to be named
the club’s Rookie of
the Year.
1996
Makes his debut for
Queensland in the
State of Origin series.
1997
Wins his first Super
League title with the
Broncos and also
makes his test debut
for the Kangaroos.
1998
Wins the NRL title
with the Broncos
again while picks up
more appearances in
State of Origin and
for the Kangaroos.
2000
Wins his third
Premiership with
the Broncos and also
makes the decision
to convert to rugby.
Signs with
Canterbury and the
Crusaders in his
native New Zealand.
brad
Thorn
timeline
1994 – 2014
H
e did it. Brad Thorn
did it – he played
professionally as a
40-year-old. But not
even an athlete of his stature;
a man of his immense
character and mental strength
could beat Father Time. No
one can and with a typical
lack of drama and glamour,
Thorn announced in April
that the current English
season would be his last.
“My goal was to play
top-level rugby at 40 and to
play well, and I’ve done that,”
he told the BBC. “I’ve been
part of all these teams and
it’s been awesome but I just
think maybe I should do
something else.
“I had a few niggles but
otherwise I’ve been really
pleased with how I’ve played
here and my body feels really
good. But it’s just got to a stage
where mainly I’m just playing
here because I want to play.”
Retiring was a decision
Thorn had genuinely feared.
As far back as 2010 he talked
about the panic he’d
sometimes find himself in
when he thought about what
his life would like when he
could no longer be a
professional sportsman.
Football – of one code or
another – had been his
working life since 1994 and
meant everything to him. “I
know how much I love footy,
I’ve been doing it since I was
six. It’s just so natural to me
and I feel so good out there
when I play, it just feels right
and where I’m meant to be.
“The whole way through as
a kid, I was very tall for my
age. I had bad acne and all
sorts of things but when I was
on a footy paddock .... all that
stuff didn’t matter. You were
the big kid and you could play.
It’s a good place to be out
there, it always has been
for me.”
The subject of retirement
came up regularly with Thorn
from 2009. At the end of the
All Blacks tour to Europe that
year, he went home before the
non-cap game against the
Barbarians.
A father of four young kids
and having played just about
every minute of every test that
year, he wasn’t going to be
needed in the final week so
the coaches asked if he’d like
to get home sooner.
When he said yes, it left
many wondering whether he
had enough gas in the tank to
push on for much longer. He
was 34, almost 35 and by New
Zealand standards, he was
positively ancient.
Back then, it wasn’t often
anyone older than 30 stayed
[ brad thorn ]
