Brad Thorn achieved pretty much everything over the course of his truly extraordinary career. Famously, when completing a short-term deal with Leinster at the end of the 2011-12 season, Thorn became the first player ever to win the World Cup, Super Rugby and Heineken Cup. But there was one thing he never did, and it remains the biggest regret of his career. He never played against the Lions.
It was a case of timing, for this New Zealand-born resident of Queensland – who played for the Kangaroos and the All Blacks – had returned to Rugby League with the Brisbane Broncos when the Lions visited New Zealand in 2005.
“I remember playing the Springboks in 2009 and they’d had a good ding-dong battle with the Lions. We played them in South Africa in two Tests straight after it. We’re 100-year-old rivals. Usually, it’s like a war but the first Test in Bloemfontein just felt flat. The energy just wasn’t there. It fell flat on our side and they had a flatness too because the Lions are every 12 years for the host nation. It’s such a big deal and they had put everything into it.
“You wouldn’t be able to say that about many Springboks-All Blacks Tests. It just shows the emotion and the importance of a Lions tour, and that was a pretty classic series in ’09.”
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Thorn put his name forward to play the Lions in their warm-up match in Hong Kong in 2013 but was turned down, and thus it remained an unfulfilled ambition. So now he’s a fan, like so many others.
“The Lions are big in Great Britain and Ireland, but they’re huge in the southern hemisphere too. This is something that’s got Aussie rugby excited for some time. It’s huge, the history of it, and the thing that makes it so cool is the Lions fans. They travel so well.”
Thorn was in the Suncorp Stadium – just five minutes from where he lives – last Saturday, and believes the Wallabies will be significantly better in this second Test with that game under their belts and with the return of Rob Valetini.
“He’s a go-forward guy. You need that in the Test arena. You’ve got to have the artillery. You know the old saying, don’t take a knife to a gunfight.”
Thorn is also glad Tom Lynagh has been retained as the Wallabies outhalf as he is a player he coached through the Queensland Reds set-up since the age of 17.
“I know his father and I’m so proud of him, mate, and so much respect for him. I just love the story. He could have played in Europe, but he came back to the other side of the world, where his name is legendary. That’s a heavy name to carry, Lynagh.
“You meet Michael, you can’t help being a little bit in awe. ‘Noddy’ is a legend over here and a real gentleman. Tom could have stayed in Europe but came and within a couple of weeks I had him when I took the boys to military camp, which are brutal; food deprivation, sleep deprivation, in the heat and bush of Queensland. And he got a bit of banter about his accent but he put his head down and got through that.
“He’s a very skilful guy. Very similar to his father. He looks like a soft-faced boy, but he will put his body on the line. He loves to run the footy but when I was the Reds coach, I thought he had the best kicking game in Australia, just like his dad.”
The Lions have grown and shown more cohesion with each game, even allowing for last Tuesday’s match. But for the Wallabies to have a chance of levelling the series, Thorn believes Lynagh was the right choice at outhalf.
“If I’m playing them, I want to play in the right end of the field. You wouldn’t be mucking around too long in your own half. To do that you need to have an outhalf with a good kicking game and Tom’s kicking game can be a strength for Australia.”
Thorn is now an assistant coach with Brisbane Boys’ College and believes that at grassroots level rugby union is still healthy.
“I don’t think the playing numbers are too much different between league and union in Queensland. It might be 50,000 rugby/60,000 league, but as well as being 23 years since Australia’s last Bledisloe Cup no Australian team has reached a Super Rugby final since 2014.
“You think about that, mate. You’re trying to have heroes, you’re trying to sell a game. You need to have some wins, you need to at least have teams in the final.”
He describes Rugby Australia’s decision to get rid of the National Rugby Championship as “crazy”, adding: “You’ve got to have that level, in my opinion.”
Thorn speaks with vast experience, and can reflect on an exceptional 23-year playing career which encompassed two spells at the Brisbane Broncos from 1994 to 2000 and from 2006 to 2007, and two stints in rugby union from 2001 to 2004 to 2016.
In league he was part of three grand final title wins and played in the State of Origin series and for Australia. In union, he was part of the aforementioned treble title wins, playing 59 times for the All Blacks, and had fruitful stints in New Zealand, Australia, Japan, England and Ireland.
“I loved it. I just thank God for how that all played out. Basically, if you look at it, I had 10 years at the Broncos, with all those experiences, and then I had about 10 or so years in rugby. So I almost got to have two careers. I got to do them both.”
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Thorn played until he was 41 and attributes his longevity to his assiduous preparation, something which his then Leinster team-mates still reference. He actually loved preseason and was fortunate to largely avoid injuries, unlike his brother.
“He got all the injuries I didn’t get and had to stop playing as a young guy.”
When playing with Leicester at the age of 40, Thorn was doing an hour’s preparation before training, and then “a foam roller, full-body stretch and a hot-cold shower after every training”.
Paul O’Connell was one of those who rang Thorn to seek advice.
“A great, great guy. My message to him was, by that stage in your career, you become the expert of your own body. You listen to all the physios and doctors, and you are the best-placed guy to know where your body’s at and what it needs.”
If Thorn left a lasting imprint on Leinster in his three months and eight games for the province in 2012, the reverse is also true.
“I had a coffee with Joe [Schmidt] and Mike Cron a few days ago and we were talking fondly about those times. That’s one of the highlights of my career. It was an absolute joy. I just felt like I connected so well, and they took me in, and my mindset was, ‘Wherever I go, I’m there to serve. I’ll give everything I have on and off the field, and more than what you asked for.’
“And I had great times, great battles; the game in Bordeaux against Clermont,” he added, signalling out that epic 19-15 semi-final win. “Yeah, we went to war against them. They had internationals on the bench and we had players like Gordon D’Arcy and Brian O’Driscoll, Leo Cullen and Cian Healy, and also Seán O’Brien.
“We loved Ireland. Me and my wife still talk about it because my wife’s heritage is half Irish and half Maltese.”
On retiring in 2016, Thorn and Mary-Anne returned home to Brisbane with their four children, Brendan (who is now 21), Aiden (20), David (18) and Neva (16).
On foot of coaching Queensland Country to the NRC title in 2017, he became the head coach of the Reds in advance of the 2018 season. They had finished 14th the season before and made steady progress in Thorn’s six seasons at the helm, finishing seventh and eighth in 2022 and 2023 before losing quarter-finals away to the Chiefs and eventual champions the Crusaders.
He had intended to stop coaching altogether but was persuaded by former Samoan international Dan Leo to be an assistant coach at Brisbane Boys’ College, where he is now in his second season.
“I have four children and wherever I went, they went. We didn’t leave them behind,” says Thorn, who made a vow that he and his family would stay in Brisbane until at least Neva finishes high school.
“It’s been a reverse of what everyone else does. Usually you start in schools, go to a club, and then you go to the next level. I was like a baby thrown into a pool, trying to keep my head above water and learning as I went,” he says of his time with the Reds.
“I gave it my best effort and I like to think it was left in a better place when I finished.
“Les Kiss has done a good job now and I’m enjoying doing the coaching I’m doing. I’m doing other things as well and having a bit more fun with my family because as a head coach, it consumes you. It’s not a nine-to-five gig, mate, but thank God I got that opportunity and we’ll see what happens going forward.”
Growing up in New Zealand, he had liked going to church, but his family stopped doing so for a few years after moving to Australia when he was nine.
His parents and brother went back seven or eight years later and, encouraged by a good friend and Australian rugby league team-mate Jason Stephens, Thorn followed suit at the age of 23.
“Where my body is as a Christian, it perfectly aligns with a team sport. Because rugby is team first. It’s not the individual first, it’s the team, and caring about your mates and serving the team, and having humility.
“So, I thank Him for what you say is that great career, and getting to play all over the world. I’m so fortunate. I’m so grateful.”
