Brad Thorn: Still going strong at 39
Brad Thorn will continue his incredible 444-game career beyond his 40th birthday with English rugby giants, Leicester.
Meanwhile another code-hopper is preparing for his own return to action with Sonny Bill Williams hoping to return for Sydney Roosters either this weekend or next.
Williams will be hoping to sign off in rugby league – for now anyway – with a second straight NRL premiership before he returns to Hamilton to re-join Super Rugby’s Chiefs.
Both Williams and Thorn are incredible cross-code stories. But who deserves the mantle as the greatest code-hopper of all time?
WHY BRAD THORN IS NO 1:
In all the hoopla surrounding the walking headline that is Sonny Bill Williams it’s easy to forget his cross-code heroics were made all the more easier because the trail had already been blazed. And for that SBW has the amazing Brad Thorn to thank.
When he crossed codes for the first time he’d already chalked up a Super League title, two NRL premierships, two State of Origin crowns and a handful of Kangaroos caps. His first stint in rugby yielded a Bledisloe Cup and Tri Nations triumph but he would have to wait for Super 14 and Rugby World Cup glory.
Switching back to rugby league once more in 2005, Thorn wasted little time in adding to his trophy cabinet as the Broncos notched another NRL title the following year. He was also named among the Broncos’ 20 best players, a celebration marking their 20th anniversary.
Thorn then re-joined the Crusaders and immediately added one of the few trophies to elude him, a Super 14 title.
That victory over the Waratahs began what would be a fruitful second-coming in the 15-man game that included Rugby World Cup glory in 2011, a further two Bledisloe Cups, another Tri Nations title and a Heineken Cup – the European crown making him the first man to complete the Super Rugby, Heineken Cup and World Cup treble.
While he doesn’t possess the ball-skills or sheer athleticism of SBW, Thorn is one of the few league converts to master the nuances of forward play in rugby. He provides power at scrum time, a solid lineout option and actually knows what to do at a breakdown.
“He is a very driven individual,” Leicester coach Richard Cockerill said of Thorn in the Leicester Mercury.
“He wants to play in the Premiership and he wants to win the Premiership.
“He will turn 40 during the season but if anyone questions his age or commitment, you wait until you meet him.”
When SBW does return to rugby later this year, he will again play outside the likes of Dan Carter and Aaron Cruden – the two best playmakers in the game. He’ll throw offloads that defy belief and cut through defences with raw power.
But what must be remembered is that SBW can only do that with a solid forward platform, and until he sticks his head in the dark confines of a rolling maul or adds his considerable frame to a scrum Brad Thorn will remain the world’s No.1 dual-code star.
Rugby is won up front and, for now, Sonny Bill Williams has only combed his hair at inside centre. He’s also a few trophies short of Thorn, too.
Trophies:
Three NRL titles (Broncos, 1998, 2000, 2006) – Super League (Broncos, 07)
State of Origin winner (QLD, 1998, 1999)
Super 14 (Crusaders, 2008)
Tri Nations (New Zealand, 2003, 2008, 2010)
Bledisloe Cup (2003, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
RWC (2011)
Heineken Cup (Leinster, 2012)
WHY SONNY BILL WILLIAMS IS NO 1:
Sonny Bill Williams, Union, League and Boxing champion
Ever since he set foot on a field for Canterbury-Bankstown in 2004, everybody has wanted a piece of Sonny Bill Williams.
He is one of the few players in the football world who doesn’t only meet the high expectations placed on him, he smashes them to pieces.
Rugby league grand finals, Super Rugby championships and Rugby World Cup titles are all part of his trophy collection and he is only 28 years of age.
Let’s not forget he’s also an undefeated heavyweight boxing champion.
But Williams’s impact goes well beyond his massive impact on the field.
The Roosters players have all lined up to praise his influence on the culture, his non-drinking, clean living ways rubbed off on his teammates all desperate to meet the standards he was setting.
In one year he was largely responsible for instilling hardness, discipline and a winning mindset which took the Roosters all the way to the premiership.
With all due respect to Brad Thorn, who is without doubt one of the greats, he wouldn’t have been capable of the two crucial plays in the second half that helped propel the Roosters to victory in the NRL decider last year.
Thorn’s titles at the Broncos and Crusaders also came when he was ensconced in teams filled with some of the all-time great players in either code.
Williams’s influence is all encompassing. If money is any indication of a player’s importance, neither rugby league or rugby union would splash the same amount of cash on Brad Thorn as they would to lure Sonny Bill Williams to their game.
Trophies:
NRL: 2 (2004 Bulldogs, 2013 Roosters)
World Club Challenge: 1 (2014 Roosters)
Super Rugby: 1 (2012, Chiefs)
Bledisloe Cup: 1 (2012, New Zealand)
World Cups: 1 (2011, New Zealand)