I HATE TO be the bearer of bad news but it’s best you rip this plaster off quickly: Brad Thorn is retiring at the end of the season. After 21 years, two codes and 11 teams, Big Brad is finally hanging up his boots.
Leicester was the last stop on his journey and it allowed him to fulfill his final ambition of playing professional rugby until his 40th birthday.
The second row was massively successful in both codes, representing Australia in rugby league while winning a World Cup with the All Blacks. He also had a voice that sounded like he swallowed roughly 100kg worth of gravel.
Advertisement
“My goal was to play top-level rugby at 40 and to play well, and I’ve done that,” he told BBC Radio Leicester.
“I’ve been part of all these teams and it’s been awesome but I just think maybe I should do something else.”
His club career was impressive too, as he won a Super Rugby title with the Crusaders in 2002 and a Heineken Cup with Leinster in 2012.
But Thorn wasn’t just a fan favourite because he was a good player on successful teams, he was also gentleman who played like he was carved out of a rock-face on New Zealand’s south island.
This video released before last year’s Bledisloe Cup game perfectly captures Thorn’s unique path and appetite for carnage.
Fans around the world left devastated as rugby's greatest warrior finally calls it a day
I HATE TO be the bearer of bad news but it’s best you rip this plaster off quickly: Brad Thorn is retiring at the end of the season. After 21 years, two codes and 11 teams, Big Brad is finally hanging up his boots.
Leicester was the last stop on his journey and it allowed him to fulfill his final ambition of playing professional rugby until his 40th birthday.
The second row was massively successful in both codes, representing Australia in rugby league while winning a World Cup with the All Blacks. He also had a voice that sounded like he swallowed roughly 100kg worth of gravel.
“My goal was to play top-level rugby at 40 and to play well, and I’ve done that,” he told BBC Radio Leicester.
“I’ve been part of all these teams and it’s been awesome but I just think maybe I should do something else.”
His club career was impressive too, as he won a Super Rugby title with the Crusaders in 2002 and a Heineken Cup with Leinster in 2012.
But Thorn wasn’t just a fan favourite because he was a good player on successful teams, he was also gentleman who played like he was carved out of a rock-face on New Zealand’s south island.
This video released before last year’s Bledisloe Cup game perfectly captures Thorn’s unique path and appetite for carnage.
He actually looks like one of those guys who could come out of retirement at 45 and still do a job for a couple of weeks in professional rugby.
Are you an Irish team? Do you want to sign a big import? Here are 6 tips for picking a good one
Irish rugby’s recruitment drive isn’t slowing down as two Premiership players make the switch
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Brad Thorn bye bye brad Leinster New Zealand