Former Bronco Brad Thorn - good article/interview

[Coxy]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/new ... 383&pnum=0

So his father called the Brisbane Broncos and asked if they were interested in signing the 19-year-old instead. Damn right. After a few trials with suburban club Wests he played his first NRL match against the Bulldogs, with his proud parents in the stand. By the end of that 1994 season, he'd played seven first-grade matches, won the club's rookie of the year award and pulled on the green and gold jersey for the Australian Junior Kangaroos.

"Everything took off really fast," recalls Thorn. "My money went from about $5000 a year to $40,000. Then [the breakaway league competition] Super League came along [in 1997] and my pay tripled again."

And the troubles began — battles with drink and his suddenly inflated sense of self.

"I did a lot of binge-drinking, chasing the ladies, all that, and I probably had a bit of an ego. Not to say I don't have one now, but I was still living in a normal neighbourhood and I'd gone from being a high school kid to a few years later making more money than anyone living on my street, and that's like guys in their 40s or 50s. And not just that, people start to know who you are and patting you on the back and all that. How does a young guy prepare for all that?"

What made that transition harder was the heart attack that killed his father at the end of his first NRL season. Thorn was reeling. "Those were real tough times," he says. "Apart from being a role model and a best mate, a beautiful mate, he's missed out on so much — meeting my wife, seeing his grandkids, all that. And for my mother, they were basically like one person, so tight. But heaps of people go through it. It's part of life."

Very good article into Brad, his past, and what makes him "tuck" (for our Kiwi readers...hi Tee!).

 

[mrslong]

always one of my favourites, we could really use Thorny in our ranks right about now.

 

[Anonymous person]

No we couldn't, he was next to useless in his last year or 2.

 

[m1c]

Coxy please post facepalm gif

 

[Prince Langer]

always one of my favourites, we could really use Thorny in our ranks right about now.

I agree. If he can still make the Allblacks team then he can make the Broncos team.

 

[broncosil]

always one of my favourites, we could really use Thorny in our ranks right about now.

I agree. If he can still make the Allblacks team then he can make the Broncos team.

No, union is far softer and he can get away with doing far less with two extra men on the field and a crapload more penalties.

But it was a good article and hopefully some of the younger ones read and realise they are no different.

 

[The Brizz]

No we couldn't, he was next to useless in his last year or 2.

+1

 

[ningnangnong]

Thorn left us at the right time, he was becoming far too slow for the game.

 

[Professor47]

Thorn left us at the right time, he was becoming far too slow for the game.

+1

 

[Sabu_2008]

Absolute legend.

97 Premiership
98 Premiership
00 Premiership
Tri Series for Queensland
Super League tests for Australia
State Of Origins
Australian tests

goes to Union...

rejects an All Black call up in 01
wins Super 12 with Crusaders in 02
runner up in Super 12 in 03
Rugby World Cup semi finalist with the All Blacks in 03
runner up in Super 12 in 04

back to league...

selected in Queensland Origin once more in 05
06 Premiership

back to Union...

08 Super 14 Premiership with Crusaders
+regular starter for the All Blacks.

 

[OXY-351]

So Thorn is an absolute legend for leaving the Broncos and switching codes (which Wayne Bennet described as one of the most courageous things he's ever seen), but Hunt is a dog for doing similar?

 

[Coxy]

Compare how the two went about it.