BRAD THORN INTERVIEW:FIRST THING you notice about Brad Thorn are the oversized forearms. Then you realise they are in perfect proportion to the rest of his massive frame.
The second thing is a humility perhaps spurned by a renewed commitment to Christianity since the turn of the century; a time that coincided with his crossover from rugby league to union.
Springbok fullback Conrad Jantjes was on the receiving end of one of these aforementioned forearms during this years Tri-Nations encounter in Wellington. South Africa captain John Smit took particular umbrage, smudging Thorn's head into the dirt after the referee's whistle. It proved a significant mistake as the enraged lock scooped the sizeable hooker into the air before dumping him.
The Boks went wild with Bakkies Botha leading the assault. Butch James landed a few upper-cuts. Thorn refused to buckle. The penalty was duly reversed, and the Canterbury lock warned, but Smit's query whether it was a spear tackle was waved away.
What followed was a strange sight for the rugby field and a mark of the man. Before the next scrum Thorn sought out Smit to apologise (granted, Smit was forced off injured from the tackle and Thorn was subsequently suspended for one game).
Thirty-four in February, he looked to have missed the chance to be considered a great All Black when returning to league and Australia in 2004 after being overlooked by Graham Henry.
The most remarkable aspect of his evolvement into a world-class secondrow is how he convinced Henry to look again. This is a meandering tale.
Back in 2001 he returned from Australia, where he had lived since age nine, with an intimidating reputation. But he walked away from both codes after this first season in union, declining to tour with the All Blacks but opting to marry May-Ann Kelly, with whom he now has three Australian-born sons, Brendan, Aiden and David, while also tasting life outside the "rugby bubble".
"Basically, I came over on a one-year contract. The three things I wanted to know was, 'do I enjoy rugby, do I like New Zealand, am I any good at rugby?'"
"At the start of the year the answer to all those questions was "no". By the end of the year those questions turned around and I started to really enjoy it. I had a one-year contract and if I had gone on that tour it would have sealed me in for two more and I wasn't really sure about my future at that stage so I declined to go. Also, two years before that I had become a Christian. There were things in my life I needed to sort out. I needed some space to do that."
Taking a sabbatical is extremely rare for a twenty-something in these professional times.
"I did a lot of travelling to Europe, tramping New Zealand, camping in Queensland. I did some work labouring, renovating, and I got married to my wife. We went on honeymoon to Spain and France.
"So basically just chilled out. It was like a halfway mark in my career. I look back and two things have come out of it; the world doesn't revolve around football. People getting on with their life.Doing the hard stuff. Not everyone reads the back page. I signed from High School so it was very stimulating for me.
"Second thing was that it gave me a nice break. It probably helped my body and why I'm still playing today."
On return he featured at the 2003 World Cup before switching back to the Brisbane Broncos where he brought his appearance tally up to 214. He also brought his State of Origin (the most brutal of league encounters) matches to 14.
Still, something was missing. Despite representing the Kangaroos, even against New Zealand, in eight Test matches, the man remained a Kiwi at heart. And what do all men from the land of the white cloud aspire towards? He earns his 22nd cap in Black this Saturday.
"I didn't think I was going to come back. I thought I'd finish up in league. I thought rugby was done. I'd done my 10 years in Brisbane. I thought I'd finish up in Britain playing league.
"When I had my contract negotiations I didn't come to agreement, talked to a few clubs and I wasn't happy with some of the terms so I thought maybe there was a chance to go back. I hadn't won a Super 14. There was a chance to play a few games for Canterbury so I thought I'd have a crack at those guys again and then maybe come play some rugby over here. I went back and it seemed to go pretty well. Next minute I'm here."
His second coming overlapped neatly with Jack's departure and a new secondrow partnership with renegade, turned role model Ali Williams at the Crusaders. Current Australian coach Robbie Deans described them as a "dream" pairing and it was duly transferred to the international arena.
Age, it appears, means nothing, even at the start of a World Cup cycle, something New Zealanders appear adamant not to get obsessed about leading into 2011.
"(It is) more for the things you guys probably don't see," said Ali Williams yesterday from their comfortable Castleknock base camp.
"The way he trains. The way that he still enjoys himself day in and day out when he has seen and done everything since about 16, when called up for the Broncos.
"On the field, even when he might not feel 100 per cent, he gives everything of what he has got.
"To me that is just amazing. To be half the person or have half the career he's had I'd be happy."
