A Conversation With...Sam Thaiday

[Big Pete]

A Conversation With... Sam Thaiday

By Tony Webeck, Chief QLD Correspondent, NRL.com
Tue 8th July, 01:46PM A A

Sam Thaiday has a chat with Darren Lockyer © Brisbane Broncos, Round 16, 27 June 2014, Suncorp Stadium - Broncos V Sharks.

I was determined to go into my interview with Maroons and Broncos back-rower Sam Thaiday with no preconceptions of what we were going to talk about, which I suppose is a preconception in itself.

All I knew was that I wanted to do something different and I thought the best way of achieving that was to copy someone else, notably James Lipton from 'Inside The Actors Studio' fame.

At the end of each interview with Hollywood A-listers, Lipton asks 10 questions he adapted from French journalist

Bernard Pivot which endeavours to reveal the true personalities of each of his guests.

But like I said, I wanted this to be different, so I opened with them.

What is your favourite word? Trousers.

What is your least favourite word? 'No' at the moment, because my daughter keeps saying it.

What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? Music.

What turns you off? Bad weather.

What is your favourite swear word? It starts with an 's' and ends in a 't'.

What sound or noise do you love? Fart noises, because they're always hilarious.

What sound or noise do you hate? Fart noises! I hate things that are repetitive, like sirens. I think that's why your alarm clock is an annoying sound because it makes you get up and turn it off.

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? I always wanted to be a builder and I'd love to still give that a crack at some stage. I'd love to be able to build a beautiful home.

What profession would you not like to do? I'd hate to be in the Army; it's too tough.

And if Heaven does exist, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? G'day mate.

It was the opening two minutes of our close to 20-minute chat but in many ways encapsulates the man who finds most pleasure in family, football and music; the man who presents the light-hearted tones of the joker yet maintains a deep spiritual connection that grounds him in reality.

Now a husband and father as well as son and brother, Thaiday's 12 seasons in the NRL began a month after his 18th birthday with a 40-4 hammering at the hands of the Bulldogs in an Origin-depleted Broncos outfit in 2003 that gave rise to further doubts as to whether "this 17-year-old chubby kid who had come down from Townsville" genuinely had what it took to succeed in rugby league.

"I can remember rocking up and thinking how good it was that I had this opportunity to first of all be a part of the Broncos. That all kind of changed really quickly when I came to training and saw the talent pool that was there.

"I thought I'd never play for the Broncos because we had so many great players," Thaiday recalls.

"I got a taste of first grade early but there was always that doubt in your mind. The first game, I got injured, I was out for six weeks after that and thinking, I'll never come back, all these other people are in front of me now and then even over recent years.

"Having the [Broncos] captaincy given to you and then taken away from you, those things are always tough to deal with and they make you sit back and think, Are you still good enough to be doing what you're doing?"

As has been the case throughout his career, when Thaiday was forced to front up to a press conference in January and tell the world that he was handing over captaincy of the Broncos, his wife and high-school sweetheart Rachel was by his side.

Where the rugby league-loving public get to share the happy-go-lucky Thaiday who permeates positivity, Rachel is the one he leans on when the highs sometimes turn into lows.

Thaiday admits that every loss impacts on his demeanour for often days at a time – a timeframe he has been able to reduce following the birth of daughter Gracie last year – but it is always Rachel with whom he can confide.

At no time in their relationship has her support been more important than when Thaiday, Karmichael Hunt and Darius Boyd were caught up in allegations of sexual assault in a Brisbane nightclub in September 2008.

All three were cleared following an extensive police investigation but told by Broncos officials that they were on their final warnings, an ordeal Thaiday says went some way to shaping the person he is today.

"That was probably the toughest period of my life and having to ring my parents up and tell my parents, telling family and friends.

"Just having your name dragged through the media with all these allegations; you just want to dig a hole and go and lay in it," Thaiday says.

"You just want to hide away from the world but that wasn't an option. We had to deal with the issue and continue to do what we were doing at the same time and trying to play some good footy. That made me realise how easy it is to lose it all.

"That was probably one of the biggest things and then in more recent years, getting married and having a family of my own. It's made me so proud of what I am doing now as a footballer and now as a father and a husband as well."
Thaiday's sense of community stems from his parents, Billy and Julie, who not only had three sons of their own but adopted two more for good measure.

"My parents didn't have to take them in but that just shows the love and care that they've always had in their hearts," says the now 29-year-old.

"My father still wants to take in kids now at his age and Mum wants to kill him every time he does it but that's just the way Mum and Dad are.

"They're very helpful and very loving people and will do anything to help out family and friends and that's kind of been ingrained in not just myself but all my brothers are exactly the same way."

It's an example Thaiday is now setting for his daughter through his extensive community and charity work that earned him the Ken Stephen Medal in 2011 as well as fostering a deep connection to the Thaiday family culture.

Gracie is too young to grasp the importance of Grandad Billy's heritage on Yam Island in the Torres Strait but those lessons will come in time.

"I do want to wait until she's a little bit older [before taking Gracie to Yam Island] so she can remember it, not just look back on photos," says Thaiday.

"That's something that I still want to do with Dad and Mum and make sure it's a whole family thing so everyone can go up there and we'll make a big celebration of it and make a big deal of it and have the whole family go up there together.

"Dad is so connected with his culture and if he can teach her anything, even a little bit of language or a couple of different songs, it's only going to make her more interested down the track to learn and be more involved in her culture."

But for this week at least, the most important culture associated with the Thaiday family is that of the Queensland Origin team, a team that is still trying to come to terms with the fact that their eight-year reign of interstate superiority has now come to a close.

When he arrives at Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday night, Thaiday will head into the familiar home dressing sheds to prepare for his 22nd match as a Maroon.

He made the gut-wrenching decision prior to the team being announced for Game One to withdraw from selection due to a calf injury and remains determined to continue to be a part of successful Queensland teams into the future.

"It didn't hit until the next day really that the success was over but I don't think it's ever over.

"We've still got a lot more we want to do as a team and there's still a lot more success left in this Queensland squad," he says of the end of the winning sequence.

"Yes, the streak's over, but that doesn't mean we're not going to ever win a Series again. It just means the shoe's on the other foot now and we're chasing them.

"It's still the best feeling. You walk into the change-rooms, the change-rooms are all decked out in Maroons stuff, there are photos on the wall of past players.

"You walk into the actual change-room part and your jersey's hanging there with your number and your name on the back... it's still an amazing feeling every time.

"The best feeling of it all is that first roar when you run out there. It's deafening, it gives you goose bumps on your head – that's when you know that something's amazing – and I'm looking forward to doing it all again.

"This is my 22nd game for Queensland and I want to play another 22 more. It's such an amazing team to be a part of and I'm so lucky and blessed to have been on the journey for so long."

 

[Brett]

He is an endearing fellow with a big heart. I hope he can really stand up for the Broncos post Origin period. We're gonna need him.

 

[Big Pete]

Thaiday is such a hipster, is just so off-beat and reckon he'd go alright on a show like Matty Johns where it's a bit more casual.

 

[I bleed Maroon]

Such a good bloke who NSW love to hate, which makes him all the more awesome.

Terrible captain though.

 

[Big Pete]

Sam's 200th Q&A: My Burning Desire To Win Another GF

Trad McLean
Mon 14th July, 01:31PM A A

Sam Thaiday © Brisbane Broncos.

On the morning of his 200th NRL game to be played against the Panthers in Sydney tonight, Trad McLean sat down for breakfast with Sam Thaiday to talk about his early years, his favourite team-mates, most memorable games, and his driving ambition to win another grand final with the Broncos.

TM: So as a young boy growing up in Townsville, what were your hopes and dreams for playing rugby league?

ST: I had none. I didn’t even start playing football until late – I did athletics from the age of six until 12. I only started playing in Grade Seven because all my mates were playing. In Grade 10, I was going to leave school and get a trade. I was going to become a carpenter – that’s what I wanted to do. But George Bartlett, who played for the North Sydney Bears and the Cowboys, was our coach and a teacher at school, and said if I wanted to give it a crack and make it I had a chance. That whole summer holidays I thought about it – 'Rach' (now wife Rachel Thaiday) and I were just friends, but she got in my ear too. She told me ‘don’t be a waster’ and don’t waste your talent. I came back to school and went back to training early and got in the gym and started to do a few extra things. I probably didn’t see the benefit of that until the next year but then I made the Queensland Open Schoolboys team.

TM: And how did the Broncos notice you?

ST: The Queensland Under 17s played before a State of Origin match at the old ANZ Stadium (now Queensland Sports and Athletics Centre) and I had a big fight. They had a gun team with Sonny Bill Williams, Tom Learoyd-Lahrs and Keith Galloway. I don’t really think there was anyone in the Queensland team that went on, but NSW had so many players that went on to the NRL and even to play for Australia and New Zealand. We had a no-name team and lost the game – but we won the fight.

TM: You were into the NRL ranks at the Broncos pretty quickly.

ST: I was 18 years and 29 days old (on debut). It all happened really fast from the time I came down from Townsville. I got promoted pretty quickly. I was training with the under 19s Colts and Kevvie Walters was coaching the (Broncos’ Queensland Cup feeder club Toowoomba) Clydesdales and Wayne Bennett said I could train with them. The first trial match was against the Central Queensland Comets, who are the Capras now, and their big signing was (130kg former Raiders front rower) Peter Penaia. He was meant to be ‘it and a bit’ and I remember trying to wrap my arms around his huge legs. Even then looking at the Broncos’ first grade team there was Andrew Gee, Brad Thorn, Gorden Tallis, Petero Civoniceva, Shane Webcke, Gorden Tallis, Dane Carlaw, Carl Webb… I never thought I was going to get to play at all. But the beauty of Origin was so many good players went to play that, some of us younger guys got a chance.

TM: Your first game was against the Bulldogs in round 18 of 2003 – almost 11 years ago to the day! What do you remember about that match?

ST: I remember crapping my daks beforehand because I was so nervous. My mum flew down for the game. My first run I ran at (former Bulldogs and Australian prop) Mark O’Meley. That was a bad choice – he absolutely creased me. But he carried on a bit and gave a penalty away. We kicked for touch, so I took the tap up and ran straight at Mark O’Meley again. He absolutely creased me again. It was kind of a blur from there – later on I rolled my ankle on the sand pit that was Suncorp Stadium back then, and I was out for six weeks. But it gave me time to sit back and reflect and want it even more.

TM: You made the Origin team, the Australian Test side and won an NRL grand final in 2006 – was that the turning point of your career?

ST: No – I think 2006 I was just on a ride. I was 21 and we had a gun team. I still to this day say in that grand final I was there for the ride. It was a blur, it all happened so fast. That’s why I am so hungry and want to get back and make sure I play a decent part and role in a grand final. I made the Queensland team that year, Australia at the end of the year, and I think I played 30 minutes for Australia in that one Test. That was it.

TM: But that first Test call up, the day after the 2006 grand final, must have been a special moment?

ST: I was pretty shocked. My mother, Rachel and my brother were on the plane with me when I found out. We pretty much had half the QANTAS flight on the way back from the grand final. There was lack of sleep, but I was pretty excited being told about it. It was good to share that moment with my family. Other times it is second-hand news from the TV or on the phone, but that time they were there on the spot. We had landed in Brisbane and they were briefing us about the crowd outside waiting for us and what we were going to do, and also about the guys in the Australian team. It was memorable.

TM: So was your 100[SUP]th[/SUP] NRL match memorable?

ST: I don’t really remember my 100[SUP]th[/SUP] game. It should have come around earlier. In 2007 I missed 13 games, so I missed a lot of footy that year. I have missed five games this year. This 200[SUP]th[/SUP] game should have happened earlier, but that’s footy. Not everyone is like (Titans prop) Luke Douglas who can play 200 in a row week after week!

TM: So what Broncos games really stick in your mind?

ST: In 2006 I remember the preliminary final more than the grand final (the Broncos beat the Bulldogs 37-20 after the Bulldogs led 20-6 at halftime). I remember at half-time Willie Mason walking up the tunnel yelling out to the Bulldogs boys that they were going to the grand final. Here I was kicking tins because I thought we had lost. But players like Justin Hodges and Shaun Berrigan didn’t think that, because we came out in the second half and just blitzed them. That’s a really memorable game for me. I can remember other people’s milestone games - Locky’s 300th game, when we played in Newcastle and the power went out for 45 minutes. I can also remember carrying Petero off the field after his final game in 2012. He was someone I always looked up to as a player and a man.

TM: So who have been your favourite team-mates over the years?

ST: All the forwards pretty much – I always loved Gordie (Tallis) as a kid because he was from Townsville too and I loved the way he played. I liked Petero and ‘Gee Gee’ (Andrew Gee), who was my first captain and a tough old player. I have a lot of respect for Shane Webcke, who was a professional on and off the field. Darren Lockyer as well – you watched him as a kid and then I got the chance to play a lot of football with him. I count myself very lucky for that.

TM: What was the most amazing thing about playing beside Darren Lockyer?

ST: Just some of the things he can do. It wasn’t that his talk was that great, it was just his actions. He had a never-say-die attitude and plenty of games he has pulled a rabbit out of his hat to win. If only you could bottle what Locky had and give everyone a little taste of it.

TM: So as you contemplate 200 games, what are your career goals from here?

ST: Oh, 300 games is a great target to try and reach. If I can average 20 games a year I think I can go for another five years. But as I said, I was a passenger in the 2006 grand final, so I’d like to get back to being there. I know now how hard it is to win one. That would be fantastic. And I just want to continue to make my family proud. I have my own family now and I love having them there. (Daughter) Gracie is getting to recognise me more now – even when she just sees a Broncos jersey she thinks it is me. I think by the time I get to retire she might be six years of age and will understand what Daddy does, and hopefully there will be another couple of kids there too. Hopefully they can understand then what Dad has been doing for most of his life and what he is trying to achieve.