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Brad Thorn's Most Savage Moments from Legendary Career

February 22, 2026 / 02:28:00

This episode features Brad Thorne, a former professional rugby player, discussing his journey from rugby league to rugby union, his experiences with the All Blacks, and personal reflections on life, faith, and family. Key topics include Thorne's transition to rugby union, his mindset during high-pressure situations, and the impact of his father's passing on his life.

Thorne shares anecdotes about his early struggles in rugby, including being labeled the "laziest kid" by his coach and his nickname "credit card" due to his initial performance. He reflects on the importance of mindset and preparation, especially during the Rugby World Cup.

He discusses the emotional weight of representing New Zealand and the All Blacks, emphasizing the significance of the jersey and the culture of excellence within the team. Thorne also touches on his family life, including his relationship with his wife Maryanne and their four children.

The conversation delves into Thorne's faith and how it has shaped his life, particularly during challenging times. He candidly addresses his struggles with anxiety and the importance of vulnerability in his journey.

Overall, the episode highlights Thorne's growth as a person and athlete, his dedication to family, and the lessons learned throughout his career.

TL;DR

Brad Thorne discusses his rugby journey, faith, family, and personal growth after transitioning from league to union.

Episode

2:28:00

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I just see like just blackness. I was

00:00:02

the laziest kid. My coach tell me,

00:00:04

"You're the laziest kid I've seen at

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this club in 15 years." Used to be the

00:00:07

hardest thing I ever uh had a crack at.

00:00:09

My nickname at the Crusaders early on

00:00:12

was credit card.

00:00:12

>> Oh, that story is [ __ ] That's not

00:00:14

true. There's no way Marty ever lifted

00:00:16

90 kilos.

00:00:17

>> In 180 was my best lift and my squat was

00:00:20

205. That's an ass to the grass squat,

00:00:22

too. That's not a 90° one. Now I'm in my

00:00:25

world of the stuff on the line. All this

00:00:27

sort of stuff. my last test I'm 36 so

00:00:30

I'm preparing and I was like in a zone

00:00:33

and it's embarrassing to say but it's

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out there here the one thing about

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making mistakes is you know hopefully

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you learn from them so

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>> how was your anxiety during that time

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>> I shed a tear in them

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>> if they were here your kids yeah what

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three words would you like them to use

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to describe you

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>> get out of my face with that I don't

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want to know about you know

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>> did you feel bad about it later or Ah,

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no.

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>> Oh, good. You're here. Come on. This is

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the center of performance. Whenever

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there's a top performance in New

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Zealand, it all comes from here. That's

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Lisa Carrington. She's been doing that

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for days. That's the boys who got the

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Holland one in Tour.

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He did it again. Hey Finn, how's the

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performance going?

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>> Top tier.

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>> Nice. This is our generate room. In here

00:01:20

you'll find our top performers helping

00:01:21

Kiwis maximize their Kiwi Saver

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investments. Get in here in maximize

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generate.

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>> Putting performance first.

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>> Brad Thorne, welcome to my podcast.

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>> Thank you for having me, Dom. Very

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pleased to be here, mate. And happy

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birthday for the 3rd of February to both

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of us.

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>> We're birthday twins. And I'm I'm pretty

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sure that is all we have in common.

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>> Well, mate, we're a couple of

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good-looking blondeheaded, you know,

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you're like a a leaner version of me, I

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reckon. So

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>> yeah, when I um started doing my

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research for this podcast and um I

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realized we've got the same birthday,

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although I'm I was born a couple of

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years before you, I I thought our

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childhoods were probably quite similar.

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I'm from um Palmer North. You're from

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Mosgill.

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>> Um there's probably a lot of a lot of

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parallels and a lot that we've got in

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common.

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>> Yeah. Yeah. Well, what do they call us?

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Generation X, I think it is. And um you

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know, from what I read about Generation

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X, you know, we we we get it, you know,

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we we get amongst it. And um you know

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we're characters I guess and uh you know

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it's good seeing guys like yourself and

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>> and others doing so well in in this sort

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of stuff. So good on

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>> you. I I reckon generation X is probably

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the luckiest generation ever. Like we

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remember life um before the internet. We

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remember life before phones. Um we got

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to experience the these this new

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technology coming in,

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>> but we remember what life was like

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beforehand, which the the the

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generations now don't. 70s like I was I

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was um you might I was five years old by

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1980. So for me it's more the 80s than

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the 90s far out. It's just the best

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time. The best time. I used to I loved

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all the uh I loved all that era like um

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I used to like as a teenager I'd go into

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books you know shops and there'd be the

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muscle magazines bodybuilding and Arnold

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Schwarz I think it was like you know was

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movies Predator and um you'd have all

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these movies Stallone you'd have these

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movies blood sport um always the same

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thing where a guy has a training montage

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and then he has to fight the the bad guy

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at the end and he used to eat that up

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and just all the music you know Metallic

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Okay. Guns and Roses. Um you know um

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just the and you know that thing where

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probably possibly the same for you but

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you didn't uh you just went out and you

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just made sure you're home by dark or

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you know and mom and dad weren't really

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worried about it and you go down to the

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creek or you'd be on your bikes. So feel

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blessed to be in that uh time and um

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yeah the last uh 10 15 years with the I

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guess with the um social media and all

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that sort of stuff.

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>> Um yeah it's I guess it's a pretty

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hectic thing for for the young people

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today. Um it was a bit simpler would you

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say simpler times mate?

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>> Oh 100%. Yeah. Um kids these days will

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never know what it's like to to be bored

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like properly bored. We used to say if

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if we ever said to mom or dad like, "Oh,

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I'm bored." That mom would just be like,

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"Well, go outside and play and lock the

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door. We just have to go and you do

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stuff in the culdeac with other kids."

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>> Yeah. I I was for me I I had real big

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imagination and I loved my toys and

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stuff and and I um you know I had Star

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Wars man and I'd have before that I had

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army man and different I used to like I

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go into uh you know a couple hours of

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just you know playing with all my stuff

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and then like you said um you know your

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mom dad send you outside and you catch

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up with your mates or you know you you

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just find something to do you know so

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make you cut make swords and you know

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you know you be doing all sorts of crazy

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stuff. It was it was cool. Yeah.

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>> I'm pleased I grew up in that.

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>> Hey, I'm really pleased that you are

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here in person for the podcast. This is

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really really cool.

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>> I'm so excited to have you here.

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>> Um I outsourced um a bit of information

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for the podcast. I I reached around some

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previous podcast guests. Um I thought

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this would be a good icebreaker, good

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way to get into the podcast. So, I've

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got some um messages here from people

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that you'll know very well um teammates

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and others. Uh Kevin Mamu,

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>> great man.

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>> Um yes, some of these are are questions

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that people have given me to ask you and

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others are just um statements. So,

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Kevin's got a statement.

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>> Uh what a great man to learn how to be a

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professional from a role model for

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everyone in the abs.

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>> Work ethic, preparation, leading by

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example. I remember always seeing Thorny

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always taking care of his body,

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stretching in hotel hallways or in a

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team room after training, always with

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his shirt off.

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>> He had a huge rig.

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>> Yeah, he's nailed it. Yeah. Yeah.

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>> 2011, I remember getting ready for the

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Rugby World Cup quarters, he shared with

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us his mentality around playing many

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finals in the NRL. Uh in his raspy

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voice, he'd say, "We only have one game

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ahead of us. Be in the now. Focus on

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today. Take care of today. tomorrow was

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not promised. It set us up well for our

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2011 Rugby World Cup journey.

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>> Yeah, that was uh I've always felt big

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on that. And for me, when I set a goal,

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I'm guess I'm fortunate, but I don't see

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anything past it. Like, I actually

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can't. It's not just, oh, I try not to.

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It's just the way I'm wired. I just see

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like um just blackness, you know, and

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until that last minute, until I've

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earned the right to go further. And

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that's the mentality we needed. And that

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was a realistic mentality because, you

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know, four years earlier we had plan B

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for the semi. Guess what? You're not

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there. You're on a plane

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>> uh back to New Zealand because you've

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been knocked down the quarters, you

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know. And um that is the mindset. Uh

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World Cups are different to, you know,

00:07:03

the other tests in the four years

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leading in. It's everything's on the

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line and you just need a turn a team to

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turn up on the day. um uh and you know

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the pressure comes on and you know you

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can end up with you know a pretty

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disappointing World Cup. So yeah, that's

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a ruthless mindset. Um just playing

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every moment and um that's probably the

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other thing is

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not seeing the I see the game personally

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in many moments. I don't I'm not I'm not

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uh dominated or I don't feel pressure

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around the end result. I know if

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individually and collectively we do our

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jobs and we strive for excellence in it

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and we stick together and care about

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each other enough that um with the

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talent we have we'll we'll get some

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reward you know pretty you know usually

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we will sometimes you still might fall

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short but uh so yeah for me that's the

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other thing is just that first action um

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you know for me going into a test match

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I'm just hanging around the kickoff.

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Show my respect to the anthem. Show my,

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you know, from New Zealand. It means a

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lot, the anthem. Show my respect to the

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haka. Such a great part of, you know,

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the Maui culture and the um who the All

00:08:26

Blacks have been. But for me, it's

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kickoff and uh whatever that is,

00:08:31

receiving or um um kicking off. Uh it

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doesn't have to be some big player

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whatever what whatever it might be just

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supporting on the inside or bringing

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some lights whatever that's that you

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know I'm giving everything to that task

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and then um again and again and again

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and um like I said if you do that as a

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as a team with the talent you know that

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you have and um the abilities like I

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said that care you'll find you off and

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get a good result at the end. you'll be,

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you know, and then that um and then that

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opens up that next week and you've

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earned the right to look at that next

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week. You know what I mean? So,

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>> what about when it doesn't work? Like um

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I know I don't know why you put this in

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your book, Champions Do Extra, but um

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you you claim to have one of the worst

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um State of Origin records, like one win

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from 11 games.

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>> One win, one draw. Yeah, I'll take I got

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the draw. But

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>> why did you why did you have why did you

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bring that up in your own book? just to

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be real, just to um because when you um

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often I'll get introduced and they say,

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"Oh, you know, they like say all these

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things that I've achieved and he went

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from league to union, back to league,

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back to union." A big thing about my

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book is just saying

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um you say, "Oh, that guy's just built

00:09:50

different. He just wins and all this

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stuff." Well,

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>> I was the laziest kid. Uh you know, as a

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14year-old, I had my coach tell me,

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"You're the laziest kid I've seen at

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this club." in 15 years,

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>> you know. Um, going guess what? Going

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from league to union was hard as was

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brutal. It tested me. Used to be the

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hardest thing I ever uh had a crack at

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until I did head coaching. Um, you know,

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State of Origin, you know, I'm a winner.

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I was a loser. Probably one of the

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biggest losers, you know, in the history

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of origin. Um, did it mean I wasn't

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putting in and and I was, you know,

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committed and all these sort of things?

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Um uh yeah. No, but um I I just want to

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be real and otherwise I feel like um if

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you just talk about all good things then

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the guy person who's reading it number

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one it's reality

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>> doesn't all just go smoothly there. So a

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a lot of it the whole book's around

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mindset and challenges and stuff but um

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just saying to whoever reads it yeah um

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you know we all go through the same

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doubts and the same uh you know um you

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know challenges and and the ups and

00:11:05

downs and you know um you I was

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fortunate to have some great good

00:11:12

experiences and uh it wasn't all just

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rosy and easy it was a hard road And um

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um anything that's worth achieving

00:11:22

usually takes um some commitment and

00:11:24

some um you know perseverance and and

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just and just keeping in it, keeping in

00:11:32

the in the challenge of it. So yeah,

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that's why I brought it up. I brought up

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other things. I brought up how I um you

00:11:39

I felt like I really cost the Crusaders

00:11:41

in in the 211, you know, final. Um, like

00:11:45

I said, I talked I think I talked about

00:11:47

my my coach who he said I was the

00:11:48

laziest kid, you know, so it's just

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real. A number one, it's real. I don't

00:11:53

want to be just a guy who's blowing wind

00:11:56

out on my backside. And second to that,

00:11:58

like I said, um,

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>> I just think that's part of the thing

00:12:02

where you I remember Richie Mccor, he's

00:12:05

a guy who really loves the coast to

00:12:08

coast, I think. Yeah, you probably are a

00:12:10

fan of that, I imagine, with your

00:12:12

running. I've done the the run league.

00:12:14

Um, but I haven't done the whole thing

00:12:15

like he's done.

00:12:16

>> Yeah. Well, he's telling me he was

00:12:18

talking maybe to me or the team or a

00:12:20

group of us one time. He's just having a

00:12:22

chat

00:12:23

>> about um there's there's a guy who was a

00:12:26

gun at that who won heaps of them maybe

00:12:28

uh 20 10 15 20 years ago.

00:12:31

>> Steve Genny.

00:12:32

>> Yeah, I think that's the name. And Steve

00:12:35

must have been speaking at something.

00:12:37

Maybe Richie heard it or he watched him,

00:12:38

but basically he was against a real

00:12:42

tough competitor and he was in front of

00:12:44

him and he was just um this might have

00:12:47

been his first win or I'm not sure but

00:12:49

he was just had nothing left and he was

00:12:53

thinking about just um you know uh

00:12:57

slowing down or submitting or something

00:12:59

and um he just went that little bit

00:13:03

further and I think the guy behind him

00:13:06

sort of um I guess had a hard time and

00:13:10

you know he he ended up winning that

00:13:11

race. But I think the lesson Steve

00:13:14

learned from that was you know just that

00:13:16

mindset of um that key little moment of

00:13:20

just pushing a bit more and a bit more

00:13:23

um was uh you know what I'm saying is

00:13:27

that guy's like a bit of a legend Rich

00:13:29

is saying but you know everyone

00:13:33

>> uh uh has their battle and um the

00:13:37

battles that are in front of him and

00:13:38

there's times you know Michael Jordan Um

00:13:42

he had that advert where he said I you

00:13:43

know I missed 30 final shots. Um that's

00:13:47

why I win. That's why I'm a competitor.

00:13:48

So yeah, it's uh yeah, it's good to just

00:13:53

uh uh um be able to talk about those

00:13:56

different things and you get a more real

00:13:58

look at it and um and hopefully people

00:14:02

feel encouraged and go, "Hey, everyone's

00:14:04

uh you know um has to gets tested and um

00:14:10

um you know hopefully it's a little bit

00:14:13

encouraging." Yeah.

00:14:14

>> Well, adversely is part of the human

00:14:15

experience, isn't it? You you can't have

00:14:17

sun without the rain as the saying goes.

00:14:19

Um I've got another message here. Um

00:14:21

Kieran Reed,

00:14:22

>> can I say one thing on

00:14:24

>> um just a great man. Yeah. So I I don't

00:14:27

Did you ask him did he say that or did

00:14:29

you find that from somewhere else?

00:14:31

>> Yeah, I messaged him.

00:14:32

>> Yeah. So he he um he was a guy that I

00:14:36

loved. Um he was a guy I used to do

00:14:38

extras with uh in the All Blacks and the

00:14:41

guy I used to do them with uh the

00:14:43

Crusaders was White Crockett. Yeah. I

00:14:45

always have a guy I like to do some

00:14:48

stuff with after training and and um

00:14:51

Crocky was a great man is a great man

00:14:53

and um and Kevy and me um used to do

00:14:57

some extra tackles and and some

00:14:59

breakdown and it was like on a we'd

00:15:01

always do it on a Thursday after

00:15:03

training and it was uh it was around our

00:15:05

mentality. So, we've done the training

00:15:07

week, but me and him um we're like uh

00:15:12

it's like a marker for Saturday night.

00:15:15

This is the physicality we're we're

00:15:17

bringing. So, um just a heart of gold,

00:15:21

beautiful family man. Um he shares a

00:15:24

Christian faith uh with me. Um and um

00:15:30

you know, everyone there's you don't

00:15:32

ever hear a bad bad word about him. He's

00:15:35

the Australian version is Petro Simba of

00:15:38

uh of Kirby. So yeah,

00:15:40

>> you don't hear a bad bad word about you

00:15:41

either. I put you in the same camp.

00:15:43

>> Oh, thanks. I'm not sure.

00:15:46

>> Also, what is it about you Christian

00:15:48

dudes just tearing people's heads off?

00:15:50

>> The Iceman, Michael Jones.

00:15:52

>> Quite funny, is it? Yeah. Yeah.

00:15:54

>> Do you feel bad afterwards? Like when

00:15:55

when you completely demolish someone and

00:15:58

and in and play, do you feel a little

00:15:59

bit bad afterwards?

00:16:01

>> Uh no. No. That's the enjoyment. And I

00:16:06

always,

00:16:06

>> you know what they're getting from

00:16:07

something for?

00:16:07

>> Yeah. Yeah. I always feel like you sign

00:16:09

up. The thing I always felt felt, Dom,

00:16:12

was um after a game, you usually when

00:16:16

you go to shake hands, you usually

00:16:19

looking for that toughest opponent on

00:16:21

the other team to shake hands with

00:16:23

first. If you watch boxers,

00:16:26

I remember I had a mate who was a

00:16:27

fighter, a boxer, and uh I said to him,

00:16:31

I see these boxers and they're just

00:16:33

bashing each other and at the end

00:16:34

they're hugging and stuff. and he said,

00:16:37

"You know, when you're in the ring for

00:16:38

12 rounds and you're just throwing at

00:16:41

each other, obviously you're trying to

00:16:43

knock out and get a win or whatever, but

00:16:45

the respect you have for your opponent

00:16:48

and um it's personal in there and

00:16:51

>> um yeah, it's so yeah, it's it's funny

00:16:55

how like you said um the Christians and

00:16:57

George Foreman was a a Christian like

00:17:00

prolific like heavy-handed guy. Vander

00:17:03

Holiffield. Yeah, it's good. Don't mess

00:17:07

with you guys. Um Kieran Reed, uh he was

00:17:11

he was a guest on the podcast really

00:17:13

early on when it started like four years

00:17:14

ago. Great guy.

00:17:15

>> So I reached out to Reedo. I have so

00:17:17

much respect for Thorny. What stands out

00:17:19

to me was just his ability to take

00:17:20

people under his wing and help them

00:17:22

grow. The likes of Samuel Whitlock and

00:17:24

the Frank brothers. I learned heaps in

00:17:26

the way he he conducted himself, fully

00:17:28

committed to the game, but also a top

00:17:29

family man at the same time. At the end

00:17:31

of the final of the Rugby World Cup

00:17:33

2011, I called the line out to him uh at

00:17:36

the front of the line out. I backed him

00:17:38

100% that he would nail it and of course

00:17:40

he did.

00:17:42

>> Yeah. Yeah. I I write about that

00:17:44

actually in the book and

00:17:47

um I remember when he first said it to

00:17:48

me um it was one minute to go. I'm like,

00:17:53

you know, putting it on me because uh

00:17:56

it's a big moment. If we win that line

00:17:57

out, we win the game.

00:17:58

>> So it's 8-7 at that point. Yeah.

00:18:00

>> All blacks front.

00:18:01

>> Yeah. And but that's my job. It's my job

00:18:03

at the front to win what you call must

00:18:06

win ball. You know what I mean? Where um

00:18:09

doesn't matter if they're lined up

00:18:10

against me. Uh if you have a good throw

00:18:14

and you know you're the one who's

00:18:16

jumping first um you should win that you

00:18:20

know 10 out of 10 times. So it's cool to

00:18:23

hear that he that he backed me and um

00:18:27

you know that was a that was a cool

00:18:29

moment. I always laugh about how uh I

00:18:31

never did a line out until I was 26

00:18:33

years old. And um my nickname at the

00:18:36

Crusaders early on was uh credit card

00:18:40

because they could just fit they used to

00:18:42

think they can just fit a credit card

00:18:44

under my shoes when I jumped which is

00:18:46

like

00:18:48

that that hurt. That hurt. And do you

00:18:50

know what else hurt Dom? Do you know how

00:18:52

else hurt? No one wanted to uh you know

00:18:54

when it's um

00:18:56

maybe it's like a school dance or

00:18:58

something you know where you end up um

00:19:00

no one yeah or who wants to dance a girl

00:19:03

doesn't you know you're battling away

00:19:05

but um yeah no no one it's okay get into

00:19:09

uh pods you know three and practice your

00:19:12

warm-up jumping no one would have left

00:19:13

me

00:19:15

but uh I used to cuz I could uh I could

00:19:17

dunk I could dunk a basketball when I

00:19:19

was 14 I me and my brother my brother

00:19:22

was a good basketball. He's 6'. He's a

00:19:24

tall guy, 6'8. Um

00:19:27

um but the timing of line outs, you

00:19:30

know, it wasn't I could jump, but um you

00:19:34

I was wooden, you know. So to think that

00:19:36

I took the the last line out to win a

00:19:40

World Cup um is is crazy. And I always

00:19:44

take my hat off to to Woody and Ali who

00:19:48

lifted me. Um, and most of all, I reckon

00:19:51

the guy gets the biggest credit is

00:19:53

Andrew Hall, who just like uh he he was

00:19:57

I took a bit of a time to to do that

00:19:59

jump and he was like thorny, what are

00:20:01

you doing get, you know, but um um

00:20:05

absolutely nailed it and uh he had the

00:20:09

hardest job, you know. So yeah, it was

00:20:12

good. That must have been um just think

00:20:14

about that like you know starting to

00:20:16

play rugby in your mid20s and having

00:20:17

nicknames like credit card. Um yeah that

00:20:21

must been I don't know like humbling or

00:20:22

demoralizing like here you were you

00:20:25

sucked league star in the 90s playing

00:20:27

for the Broncos in the dynasty era and

00:20:29

then suddenly you're back to ground

00:20:31

zero.

00:20:31

>> Yeah. Uh

00:20:33

three grand finals 97 98 2000 in four

00:20:37

years. um you know uh Origin playing for

00:20:42

Australia you know on a big contract you

00:20:45

know threeyear million dollar contract

00:20:47

and you come over and yeah you get you

00:20:49

got humbled you know because end of the

00:20:51

day a 14year-old

00:20:53

could do a better line out than I could

00:20:55

and um you know I basically started from

00:21:00

square one I could run and I could um I

00:21:03

could tackle but um there's just so much

00:21:07

more to forward play and

00:21:10

>> just culturally everything about coming

00:21:13

across um was such a challenge and I'm

00:21:16

so pleased I did it. Dom obviously now

00:21:18

we can all say that but

00:21:20

uh such I thank God for that uh the

00:21:24

character of development that I got from

00:21:27

that the humility that I I pretty much

00:21:31

you know felt um and and um you know

00:21:36

just just having to persevere and um and

00:21:41

you know getting to a good space with it

00:21:43

was you know there was a reward there uh

00:21:46

so important important in my life that

00:21:47

year.

00:21:49

>> And by the time you ended, you were like

00:21:51

a great all black, which is what every

00:21:52

every new All Black strives to be,

00:21:54

right? A great all black.

00:21:55

>> Yeah. Well, I never I was never like,

00:21:59

um, oh, you're an all black. Oh, yeah.

00:22:02

Like I I always wanted to be a great,

00:22:04

you know, in my mind, you know, the guys

00:22:06

would laugh about this because, uh, I

00:22:10

always wanted to be a number six. I used

00:22:12

to like Jamie Joseph, AJ Whitten, these

00:22:14

sort of guys. I saw myself as a big six

00:22:17

compared to a shorter lock. And um one

00:22:21

time I snuck myself in there at training

00:22:24

um where I did a scrum because I was

00:22:26

used to being in the that lock uh the

00:22:29

number eight or someone ran down the

00:22:31

short side which is the number six you

00:22:33

supposed to peel off and make the

00:22:35

tackle. I was just s sat on the scrum

00:22:38

watching him run fast. So they used to

00:22:40

have a bit of fun about me um you know

00:22:42

wanting to be a six. But um

00:22:45

um yeah it was it was uh such a great

00:22:50

challenge to come across and try and

00:22:52

master that ro roll ro you know as as a

00:22:54

lock. So yeah.

00:22:56

>> Um Dr. Nick Gill Gilly is the All Blacks

00:23:00

long-term strength and conditioning

00:23:01

coach. He's a previous podcast guest. Um

00:23:03

I reached out to him and he just gave me

00:23:04

two questions to ask you. Number one,

00:23:06

um, ask him what he called his biceps.

00:23:11

>> Uh, I'm trying I I don't know if he

00:23:14

means I used to call This is This is

00:23:16

embarrassing. This You got to You have a

00:23:18

lot of banter. I love banter. Okay, you

00:23:20

should see my house. I got three sons.

00:23:22

The testosterone everywhere. all all you

00:23:25

know but yeah I used to call my packs

00:23:28

big and bigger AND BE I'D BE

00:23:31

I USED to flex them and carry on and um

00:23:35

um so that's probably what he's talking

00:23:37

about but yeah a lot of you got to you

00:23:40

got to have you know you can't be all

00:23:42

serious

00:23:43

>> bigger um he had another question and

00:23:45

I've got a I've got a visual gag for

00:23:47

this

00:23:47

>> um

00:23:48

>> what's the significance of this meal

00:23:50

that I'm holding here

00:23:51

>> is it got banana in it

00:23:53

>> that's pretty That's what I'd eat all

00:23:54

the time. Yeah.

00:23:55

>> A banana sandwich.

00:23:56

>> All the time. Yeah. Yeah.

00:23:58

>> You're really into processes, eh? And um

00:24:00

just keeping things as as as on track

00:24:04

and as as the same as what you can.

00:24:06

>> I just love uh I I love bananas to this

00:24:10

day. And I love I loved uh you know, I

00:24:13

guess I loved eating. And the thing that

00:24:15

that you know what cuz Nick's you know,

00:24:17

having a bit of fun with me. Um that

00:24:20

that paid off when I went to Japan

00:24:23

because um

00:24:25

um I was in the south of Japan, Kushu

00:24:28

Island. It's the bottom island, real

00:24:30

traditional, not like Hong Kong with

00:24:31

lots of Western stuff. And uh I was sort

00:24:34

of battling with the food, getting used

00:24:36

to Japanese food. But what I did have

00:24:38

was bananas. They did have bananas, they

00:24:41

had bread, which meant that I survived.

00:24:44

So, so, so that the banana and bread for

00:24:47

weeks on end I just go and buy bananas

00:24:49

and bread and then um over time I

00:24:53

started to learn about Japanese food and

00:24:55

then uh you know I came through. So

00:24:57

>> So net Gill Net Gill just so you know.

00:24:59

Yeah, that paid off.

00:25:01

>> So this this is your like your pregame

00:25:03

snack like an hour before kickoff, two

00:25:04

hours before kickoff.

00:25:05

>> Uh I used my pre my pregame was

00:25:08

different to that. I I had a a same meal

00:25:11

that I liked, but that was more like um

00:25:13

uh

00:25:16

avocado and um you know, some salad and

00:25:19

uh some chicken or you know, some ham or

00:25:22

whatever on a toasted uh I used to love

00:25:25

having an egg on it, too. So, I' I'd

00:25:27

have two of those. Always trying to have

00:25:29

that 4 hours before and you know, have a

00:25:32

bit of a smoothie or something. And

00:25:34

yeah, you get really meticulous. You get

00:25:36

really a routine. Routines are important

00:25:39

because um when you're younger, you

00:25:42

don't really have a routine. Your

00:25:44

performance, it's important to

00:25:46

performance. You're sort of letting your

00:25:48

mind, number one, your mind and your

00:25:50

body know it's it's performance time.

00:25:52

>> It gets used to a routine. Do you know

00:25:54

what I mean?

00:25:55

>> Sometimes um things happen and it puts

00:25:58

your routine out. You got to be able to

00:26:01

handle that as well. Just go too bad,

00:26:04

you know, next, you know, uh next job or

00:26:07

whatever. But routine is uh good for

00:26:10

consistency of performance. And um you

00:26:13

know from after I'd have that that meal

00:26:16

that I talked about, I'd always go back

00:26:18

to my room. Whether I slept or not, I

00:26:20

wouldn't care, but I'd have a lie down

00:26:22

for an hour. Then I'd um um uh some some

00:26:27

point in that day might have been uh I'd

00:26:31

have a full body stretch and I have a

00:26:33

hot cold shower and I used to feel a

00:26:35

million dollars and you get on the bus

00:26:37

and and um you know that's that's how I

00:26:41

believe you get a good consistent sort

00:26:43

of performance. So yeah,

00:26:45

>> control the controllables.

00:26:46

>> Yeah.

00:26:46

>> Yeah.

00:26:47

>> Um Darren Shand who who gets quite a few

00:26:49

mentions in your book. Um, I reached out

00:26:52

to Shandandy. He said, um, ask him why

00:26:54

he always he was always left arm over

00:26:57

top of right arm for team photos, the

00:26:59

opposite to everyone else.

00:27:01

>> May left arm over right arm. Maybe um

00:27:05

maybe that was I was unaware of it, but

00:27:08

I do know that my right arms bigger. So

00:27:11

So maybe maybe it was just me trying to

00:27:14

get my big forearms out there. I'm not

00:27:16

sure.

00:27:17

>> Oh, so it was something that you weren't

00:27:18

aware you were doing? No.

00:27:19

>> Okay. Um, and he said ask him if he

00:27:21

remembers the first time I gave him a

00:27:23

tour of the Crusaders facilities.

00:27:25

>> He told he told me the backtory to this

00:27:26

if you can't remember.

00:27:27

>> I can't I can't remember. Um, but he was

00:27:32

uh someone that um like he's your team

00:27:35

manager. He used to work down at um

00:27:37

Bungie. Did you know that? He used to

00:27:39

work down at AJ Hackett

00:27:41

>> and do the all that sort of stuff down

00:27:42

there. Yeah.

00:27:44

>> Um he's a really good guy. Um what did

00:27:46

what happened?

00:27:48

So he was he crusaders manager when you

00:27:50

first arrived. Okay. So he said he gave

00:27:52

you a tour of the facilities. Um and he

00:27:54

said okay this is the the physio room

00:27:56

the rehab room and and you you said

00:27:57

something like we won't be needing that.

00:27:59

Just show me where the gym is.

00:28:00

>> Yeah. Yeah.

00:28:02

>> Yeah. I I prided myself on not getting

00:28:05

injured. You know not that end of the

00:28:08

day someone hits you from the wrong

00:28:09

angle you're going to get injured. But

00:28:11

um uh yeah I was pretty detailed. I was

00:28:15

I was into a lot of probably stuff

00:28:17

before it sort of became more, you know,

00:28:20

I was into ice baths in the mid '9s, you

00:28:24

know. Um I'm not whether people think

00:28:26

they uh affect you or not, I always felt

00:28:28

better for it. Um always big into my

00:28:31

stretching. Um all these different

00:28:34

things. So yeah, I remember it was Steve

00:28:37

Mure was our uh physio. I said, "You

00:28:39

won't see me." And I I don't I don't

00:28:42

think they did see me. Um, but when I

00:28:45

came back when I was in my 30s, they

00:28:47

probably saw me a little bit more. So,

00:28:48

yeah.

00:28:50

>> And the, um, the last message I got was

00:28:52

from, um, Justin Marshall. Um, so your

00:28:54

career's sort of over overlapped, I

00:28:56

guess. He was probably finishing just

00:28:57

when you were

00:28:58

>> He's only He's only a year older than

00:28:59

me,

00:28:59

>> is he?

00:29:00

>> Marshall. Yeah. Yeah. It's just that I

00:29:03

didn't actually get to play much against

00:29:05

guys of my own sort of time because for

00:29:08

the from the age of 18, I played West

00:29:11

Rugby League in the Brisbane Rugby

00:29:13

League comp, first grade as an 18-y old.

00:29:15

Then I had seven years at the Broncos. I

00:29:17

was playing first grade at 19.

00:29:20

>> So there was eight years there and then

00:29:22

I came over to Union uh at 26.

00:29:26

>> But it used to be guys used to leave

00:29:28

quite early. It was almost like if you

00:29:30

hadn't sort of made the All Blacks or

00:29:32

something by your mid20s, you know, guys

00:29:35

would go overseas and that and um so but

00:29:38

yeah, Marie had done a whole bit of

00:29:40

stuff in rugby and done well. He I think

00:29:42

he's he might he's either your age or a

00:29:45

year older than me.

00:29:46

>> He's a great guy. Um his his his um

00:29:49

memory of Brad Thorne in essence was um

00:29:52

>> he talked about your commitment to work

00:29:53

and how you'd go to the gym before

00:29:54

anyone else. So he said like the

00:29:56

forwards would have a time to go to the

00:29:57

gym, then the backs would come a bit

00:29:58

later. He said you'd always go an hour

00:30:00

before everyone else

00:30:01

>> and then by the time the backs got in,

00:30:02

you'd just be wandering around like

00:30:04

>> that's ber time. That's

00:30:06

>> time. And he said he remembers once um

00:30:09

he remembers once uh he was doing bench

00:30:10

and he had like 90 kilos or something on

00:30:12

the bench and you just came up and

00:30:14

looked at it and then laughed and walked

00:30:15

away.

00:30:16

>> Yeah. It's that's um Yeah. Classic.

00:30:18

Yeah. Yeah. I was full of it. I was full

00:30:22

of it, mate. And is that a true story?

00:30:25

>> We had Yeah, that would definitely that

00:30:26

would definitely be true. I' like backs

00:30:29

and try and walk through the bench press

00:30:30

area say you're not welcome here like

00:30:32

keep moving or you know I'd be uh

00:30:34

standing you know guys that you know

00:30:36

maybe they're in the mirror I'd be you

00:30:38

know standing behind them just you know

00:30:41

cuz I'm quite broad and I' I'd be saying

00:30:44

you know don't blame yourself it's your

00:30:46

parents you do you know you don't have

00:30:47

the you know all sorts of banter. So,

00:30:51

um, yeah, it it's just good fun because

00:30:54

like I said, it's a lot of seriousness.

00:30:57

In my house growing up, my dad was uh we

00:31:00

we used to like uh um wrestle and um and

00:31:05

we'd open hand spar as well and it'd

00:31:08

always be chirp and when I went to

00:31:09

Broncos, there's a heap of banter and um

00:31:13

it's just it's it's just the fun that

00:31:16

helps it all go along, mate, you know.

00:31:19

Um when I told um Dr. Nick Gill that

00:31:22

story about Justin Marshall, he said,

00:31:23

"Oh, that story is [ __ ] That's not

00:31:24

true. There's no way Marshie ever lifted

00:31:26

90 kilos."

00:31:27

>> Oh yeah.

00:31:28

>> What What about you? What's your your

00:31:30

bench PB and your squat PB?

00:31:32

>> My bench was 180 was my best lift and my

00:31:35

squat was 205. Um so that Yeah. So

00:31:39

that's they were my two

00:31:41

>> um lifts. I I thought my squat was

00:31:43

pretty good. That's an ass to the grass

00:31:45

squat, too. It's not a 90° one, but um

00:31:48

just just for the viewing public, okay?

00:31:51

There's a big difference, I'm telling

00:31:52

you, between an assass. But

00:31:56

>> um Shane Webbkkey was um we used to lift

00:31:59

the guy Dan Baker was our guy at the

00:32:01

Broncos and uh two-time doctor. U he's

00:32:05

president Australian strength

00:32:06

conditioning, just a gun. And um he put

00:32:09

all the heavy the big dogs together and

00:32:12

we'd be competitive or whatever. And

00:32:14

Shane used to Shane Webkkey remember

00:32:16

him? His big quads and that used to say

00:32:20

give me banter about my skinny pin. You

00:32:21

got skinny pins and I felt like I was

00:32:24

doing all right. But he was he was a

00:32:25

powerhouse. But but we used to be uh so

00:32:29

competitive um around the gym and pretty

00:32:32

much everything and the amount of banter

00:32:35

at the Broncos. So when I came over to

00:32:36

the Crusaders,

00:32:38

um they probably a little bit more

00:32:40

reserved, but um you know, once I got

00:32:44

comfortable there and uh you know, you

00:32:47

know, it's then I'd have some fun and

00:32:50

it's all part of it. just with Justin

00:32:52

Marshall. Um he was uh he was a

00:32:56

fantastic player to play with and um um

00:33:00

tough a tough soldier and yeah a great a

00:33:04

great player and uh you you knew when

00:33:07

you played with him he's he's fully on

00:33:10

he'd have your back even as half back.

00:33:12

He's he's a big half back but um he was

00:33:15

cool to play with. M

00:33:16

>> he's a great guy too. If if if he gets a

00:33:20

lot of a lot of flack for his media

00:33:21

commitment and his commentary, but I say

00:33:23

to anyone that doesn't like him, if you

00:33:25

met him, you would like him. He's

00:33:26

impossible to dislike.

00:33:27

>> Yeah, he's great.

00:33:28

>> He's a great dude.

00:33:29

>> This m we've been going for 32 minutes

00:33:31

and that was just with the icebreaker

00:33:32

just with those messages from your old

00:33:34

teammates. We haven't even gotten to the

00:33:36

crux of the podcast. This is great

00:33:37

stuff.

00:33:38

>> Yeah.

00:33:38

>> Are you comfortable chatting about

00:33:40

yourself these days and reflecting on

00:33:41

these things? Does it is it okay with

00:33:44

you?

00:33:44

>> Yeah. Um, it's been solid. You know, it

00:33:48

was more um putting it down in a book

00:33:50

was uh I felt like last year I reckon

00:33:54

just in the background I felt like I

00:33:56

think stressed cuz I'm you you're

00:33:59

showing if I'm going to do a book I'm

00:34:01

going to do it properly. I'm going to be

00:34:02

vulnerable. You know, I'm going to um I

00:34:04

talk about anxiety, talk about all sorts

00:34:06

of stuff. So

00:34:08

>> um and you're thinking, gee, anyone want

00:34:09

to hear this anyway? you know, but um

00:34:13

>> like I said, I got to the end of my

00:34:14

career, I thought 30 years of stuff,

00:34:16

surely I've learned something and um you

00:34:18

know, I prayed about it and door was

00:34:20

open and you know, I did it with Harper

00:34:23

Collins. You know, thank him for being

00:34:24

involved. So, but uh yeah, talking about

00:34:29

um yourself,

00:34:31

uh yeah, can feel a bit awkward. um

00:34:35

>> like just self-indulgent or

00:34:37

>> I I feel more um I just just doing it

00:34:40

just being more uh I guess uh you you

00:34:43

probably notice over all that time I

00:34:45

wasn't out there in front of the camera

00:34:47

all the time was I you know I was bit

00:34:49

more reserved probably an introvert as

00:34:52

you know my I get I need energy by being

00:34:55

all on my own and you know I like doing

00:34:57

gym on my own I like walking taking my

00:34:59

dog out to the beach or you know my

00:35:02

house are pretty noisy um you with my

00:35:05

four kids. Um so yeah, to come out and

00:35:08

just talk about uh stuff uh probably

00:35:13

isn't natural, but I sort of feel like

00:35:16

um I had something to say. Uh I've

00:35:19

learned some things, you know, um and

00:35:23

uh you know, if I'm going to say some

00:35:26

stuff and need to um you know, just be

00:35:29

open and that. And I think that helps

00:35:31

too because I feel like someone like me,

00:35:34

I probably come across pretty staunch,

00:35:36

you know, like a physical guy in the All

00:35:38

Blacks or at the, you know, coaching the

00:35:41

Reds. You're pretty serious, you know,

00:35:44

face and you're a head coach and you're

00:35:46

just showing you're just saying, "Hey,

00:35:48

you're human, too, and you got your

00:35:50

faults. You have you feel the downs and

00:35:53

the ups as well." And um you hope that

00:35:56

people, you know, will feel encouraged

00:35:57

by that, you know. So,

00:36:00

>> um, yeah, I love the, um, the backstory

00:36:02

of the title, Champions Do Extra. It's a

00:36:04

quote from your your dad who, um, passed

00:36:06

away when you were 19. I only got to see

00:36:08

seven of your 500 games.

00:36:09

>> Yeah.

00:36:10

>> Um,

00:36:11

>> you

00:36:13

the the funny thing, and I suppose the

00:36:14

good thing is you're in a position of

00:36:16

life now, which is the same position as

00:36:18

what most readers are, like you're just

00:36:19

like a normal civilian.

00:36:21

>> So, what does excellence look like to

00:36:22

you now on a day-to-day basis?

00:36:25

Well, like um

00:36:27

>> what's what's extra for Brad? I

00:36:29

>> I like like this will sound funny. I

00:36:31

like making my bed really well.

00:36:34

>> I I do gym three days a week. I know it

00:36:36

sounds funny. I just love a real

00:36:38

well-made bed. Like I have to I don't My

00:36:41

wife will just, you know, put the sheets

00:36:43

over. I like to strip it and, you know,

00:36:46

make the under sheet flat, you know.

00:36:49

>> Why? It's so

00:36:51

>> I just like it done well. Yeah. Yeah.

00:36:53

It's funny. Um

00:36:54

>> when when you were away on on tour, did

00:36:56

you make your own beard or did you

00:36:58

>> No, you've got people usually you're out

00:37:00

you're training and that. I'm just

00:37:02

talking about it at home, you know. Um

00:37:03

I'm just giving example like I mow the

00:37:06

lawn. I like my edges done not you know

00:37:09

I do whippers. I used to be able to

00:37:10

claim that I could cut your hair with a

00:37:12

whippers snipper, you know. But um when

00:37:14

I do my gym, I do three days a week I I

00:37:18

have a gym at home. like I um I do all

00:37:23

my movements or lifting or whatever, I

00:37:25

do it try and do it excellent. You know,

00:37:29

>> the way I feel is um why do it mediocre?

00:37:33

That's how I sort of feel. Now, the

00:37:35

argument is, you know, sometimes there's

00:37:36

things where you just got to get it done

00:37:38

and move on. And I get all that, but um

00:37:41

and sometimes you do have to just get

00:37:44

stuff done. But yeah, if I do the

00:37:46

kitchen, if I you know, I like having it

00:37:49

um you know, spotless clean and that I

00:37:52

don't think I'm like is it OCD or

00:37:54

something?

00:37:55

>> Obsessive compulsive

00:37:56

>> dis. I'm not like but I just uh if I'm

00:38:01

going to do stuff, I just like doing

00:38:03

them well and I I just you just feel

00:38:05

good purpose doing stuff well and um

00:38:09

>> I know that's Yeah. So even though I'm

00:38:12

not like a professional athlete now and

00:38:14

all this sort of stuff. Yeah. I it's

00:38:17

that's what I like. And dad my father

00:38:19

was the same. He's a watch maker by

00:38:21

trade.

00:38:22

>> I have you ever seen watch makers? But

00:38:24

the um dad used to do some work from

00:38:26

home and he'd have these all these um

00:38:28

magnifying cuz you you're dealing with

00:38:31

>> That's so intricate.

00:38:32

>> Yeah. So, um and um he like he could

00:38:39

build a house, he could build a car. Um

00:38:42

uh he he did fixing watches that need to

00:38:46

be perfect. You don't want a watch

00:38:48

that's dodgy, do you? And when he was a

00:38:51

watch maker, it was before they had all

00:38:53

the cheap watch where you just throw

00:38:54

them away. It was, you know, people had

00:38:56

their watches and it was a well- paid

00:38:58

job. So, he he liked doing stuff well as

00:39:01

well. I guess that's a trait that uh

00:39:03

I've taken from him him as well.

00:39:07

>> Yeah, it's it's funny something that

00:39:08

sprung to mind a second ago when you

00:39:09

were talking about you the um the bed

00:39:11

and just doing everything right. I had

00:39:13

um one of your coaches, Sir Steve

00:39:14

Hansen, on the podcast last year and

00:39:16

then he used an analogy about a dirty

00:39:18

window and you clean the window but not

00:39:20

the corners.

00:39:20

>> The corners. Yeah.

00:39:21

>> Yeah. Have you heard that one from him

00:39:22

before?

00:39:23

>> Uh yeah. Yeah, I've heard that uh from

00:39:24

him. I've heard that. You know, that's

00:39:27

>> but that's um

00:39:29

>> that's that's

00:39:32

there's like 85% a lot of people do up

00:39:36

around that. There's people are low like

00:39:39

what would they be? It'd be like um you

00:39:42

know down to 15% or up to 85%.

00:39:45

There's a bulk of people doing sort of

00:39:48

in the middle of that at that that

00:39:51

really high level is that top 15%. this

00:39:55

guy uh an old mate of mine Cameron Louis

00:39:58

crap he's an exwalabby said that's that

00:39:59

top 15% thorny and I agree with him um

00:40:03

of of doing things really well

00:40:07

>> you know and just you know trying to uh

00:40:11

when I say really well the the word for

00:40:12

that is striving to do it in an

00:40:15

excellent way

00:40:16

>> and the thing that I loved about that

00:40:18

with the things I wanted to achieve was

00:40:21

um you never fully um attain ain't it.

00:40:25

And it's each time you do something, you

00:40:28

got to retry and do it well again. So,

00:40:30

it's a never- ending uh for someone who

00:40:32

has a bit of a fire in them and loves

00:40:34

challenges, it's like this never ending

00:40:38

um um thing that I'm trying to achieve,

00:40:41

>> like a game that you can never clock.

00:40:42

>> Yeah. Yeah. And it's so I I just love

00:40:44

it. And it doesn't rely on uh me being

00:40:48

better than someone else even though I

00:40:50

am highly competitive. Very competitive.

00:40:53

um even if I've you know uh competed and

00:40:58

and I'm better you know doing it better

00:41:01

than say others uh you can always do

00:41:04

something better or whatever. So, I

00:41:07

always love that as a as a mindset. Uh,

00:41:10

Dad was right um around, you know,

00:41:13

champions don't do mediocre, you know,

00:41:16

they don't do less. Um it's a pretty b

00:41:19

obvious one that they would do extra.

00:41:21

You know um what everyone else is

00:41:24

prepared to do they all will do. Yeah,

00:41:26

I've seen that with great players, you

00:41:27

know, um uh um throughout my career on

00:41:31

both codes and you know, watching, you

00:41:34

know, you hear about I think it's Kobe

00:41:36

Bryant, the amount of effort he put in,

00:41:38

Michael Jordan, these sort of guys, the

00:41:40

the great cricketers,

00:41:42

business people. Um

00:41:45

yeah, like I said once again, uh for me,

00:41:50

what's the I don't get anything out of

00:41:52

doing things halfass or media, you know,

00:41:55

mediocre. So I even if it's a small

00:41:58

thing, I like to do it well if I can. Um

00:42:02

like I said before, sometimes there

00:42:04

things you just go through and you move

00:42:06

on. But yeah, as general sort of mindset

00:42:08

that sort of that was that was a

00:42:11

strength for me, I think in my career. M

00:42:14

and the um you don't just have one. You

00:42:16

definitely do extra. You you you even

00:42:18

have extra four words in your book. Most

00:42:19

people just have one. You've got three

00:42:22

forwards from Robbie Dan, Joe Schmidt,

00:42:23

and um Wayne Bennett. And Wayne Bennett

00:42:26

calls you um

00:42:28

>> principled. That's that's the word he

00:42:30

used.

00:42:30

>> Yeah.

00:42:31

>> What did he mean?

00:42:34

>> Yeah. I'm not sure. Yeah. Um

00:42:36

>> it's a huge compliment.

00:42:37

>> Yeah. I guess um

00:42:40

um you probably have to ask Wayne, but

00:42:43

uh

00:42:45

I I you know felt strongly about

00:42:48

representing the Broncos. It meant a lot

00:42:50

to me. Um you know, moving over there

00:42:54

when I was a a 9year-old, um you know, I

00:42:59

I guess I I I tried to play in a certain

00:43:02

manner um and show respect and all this

00:43:05

sort of stuff. Maybe that's what he

00:43:07

means. I'm not really sure. But to have

00:43:10

those guys, uh Wayne to this, you know,

00:43:15

to this day, I'm 50 years 51 years old.

00:43:18

He had me for, you know, 10 years at the

00:43:20

Broncos. Um you know, a fifth of my life

00:43:23

even now, you know. Um

00:43:25

>> so he had a big impact being around him

00:43:28

and uh the great coach that he is. And

00:43:31

>> it won't surprise me if he goes into his

00:43:33

80s. um um with his coaching as long as

00:43:37

he has the passion and the desire.

00:43:40

Um, and then to have Robbie there who

00:43:42

was, uh, massive for me. Um,

00:43:46

uh, and such a competitor himself and

00:43:48

and and a good guy. And Joe Schmidt, um,

00:43:52

who I got the pleasure of playing with

00:43:54

at the back end of my career. And if you

00:43:57

look at his um, regime, you know, he's

00:44:01

uh, he's a guy who's achieved a lot. And

00:44:04

then, you know, they're all men of, you

00:44:07

know, character. So

00:44:08

>> to have those guys talk about you is uh

00:44:12

crazy. Yeah.

00:44:14

>> Yes. Some of the coaches that you've

00:44:15

played for, there's um Ted who um who um

00:44:19

thought you were too old initially. We

00:44:20

might get into that later. Agism.

00:44:23

>> Uh there's um the professor Sir Wayne

00:44:25

Smith, Sir Steve Hansen, Robbie Deans,

00:44:27

Joe Schmidt, uh Razer. Did Razer coach

00:44:30

you at the Crusaders?

00:44:32

>> No. No. I played next to Razer.

00:44:34

>> Yeah. but also um yeah, Wayne Bellamy

00:44:36

and um also Craig Bellamy and Wayne

00:44:39

Bennett.

00:44:40

>> What? Yeah. What traits do all great

00:44:42

coaches have in common?

00:44:46

>> I guess they have the love for the the

00:44:48

what they're doing, the sport. Um highly

00:44:51

competitive. Uh

00:44:54

you know, they um you know, they've got

00:44:58

their their vision.

00:45:00

um you know they're they're very driven

00:45:03

and they

00:45:06

uh managed they can you know connect

00:45:09

with the to get the best out of your

00:45:11

players they're the best coaches so

00:45:15

um yeah there's the our environment at

00:45:19

the Broncos was a competitive

00:45:21

environment

00:45:22

when I think of adversaries you know not

00:45:26

necessarily other teams it was you know

00:45:28

um some of my teammates you know and um

00:45:31

many time I come off the training pad at

00:45:33

cranky cuz you know you lost some sort

00:45:35

of you know you know bold skill game or

00:45:39

whatever. Um so Dean was the same like

00:45:43

Dean was just highly competitive uh guy.

00:45:48

They demand high standards. You don't

00:45:50

get stuff with low standards or mediocre

00:45:52

standards.

00:45:54

>> It's always the same. It's, you know,

00:45:55

high standards and the fabric that

00:45:58

brings it all together is the care, the

00:46:00

care and the care is the real words is

00:46:05

love, but it's if you know care is a

00:46:07

probably a more comfortable word for the

00:46:09

lads, but caring for each other and for

00:46:12

what you're trying to achieve, the cause

00:46:14

>> and who you represent. And

00:46:17

that's the at those under Joe Schmidt,

00:46:20

Wayne Bennett, Graeme Henry, um all

00:46:23

those guys, Dean, that you know, they're

00:46:26

big on that, big on uh uh keeping a

00:46:30

humility

00:46:32

that the great teams you go to, um

00:46:35

sometimes you expect them to have the

00:46:37

big ego, but there's a humility. They

00:46:39

know they're they know they're good, um

00:46:41

but there's a humility to continue to

00:46:42

strive to get better and learn and

00:46:44

whatever.

00:46:45

Sometimes it's the the teams where you

00:46:47

they're not so good you expect would be

00:46:49

humble, but they

00:46:51

>> sometimes there's a bit of a uh attitude

00:46:53

there. You know, it's quite interesting

00:46:55

that you know, you'd expect the the big

00:46:58

time team to be if anything arrogant.

00:47:01

But obviously, you know, but that's why

00:47:03

that's the thing I learned

00:47:06

um throughout my 22 years playing is

00:47:09

there's a reason why teams are good.

00:47:12

It's not just by chance and it starts

00:47:14

with these coaches you're talking about

00:47:16

and the players and the culture of the

00:47:17

club and all that sort of stuff. And

00:47:19

there's a reason why places aren't good.

00:47:21

It's not just by chance either. Do you

00:47:23

know what I mean? And uh having a a full

00:47:26

experience over that 22 years is was

00:47:31

good, you know, to to just get a feel

00:47:34

for different things. The last four

00:47:36

years of my career, I um I was a 30 I

00:47:39

finished the World Cup. I was 36 years

00:47:41

old. I still felt good. I thought I'm

00:47:42

going to keep playing, but now I'm going

00:47:44

to have some fun. You know, I've had um

00:47:46

10 years at the Broncos, seven with the

00:47:47

Crusaders, 17 years of going hard, you

00:47:50

know, all these things that I'm now I'm

00:47:52

going to have some fun. So, you know, I

00:47:54

got played in Japan. We came last. Um I

00:47:56

got the wooden spoon. I've won a wooden

00:47:58

spoon. So, um yeah, at the Highlanders,

00:48:01

we we sort of came out of uh we had a

00:48:03

tough year, won three and then, you

00:48:04

know, into the top six. Um yeah, over to

00:48:07

Leicester. Lster.

00:48:09

Um it was good to experience these

00:48:11

different uh places and teams in

00:48:14

different spaces, clubs at different

00:48:16

spaces. So yeah.

00:48:18

>> Um from what you've said previously, um

00:48:21

Wayne Bennett is um your favorite league

00:48:23

coach. Who would be your favorite rugby

00:48:24

coach?

00:48:25

>> He's my only league coach.

00:48:26

>> Oh, is he? Yeah.

00:48:27

>> Oh, yeah. All my life.

00:48:28

>> Oh, Craig Bellamy. He was he was your

00:48:30

like strength and conditioning coach at

00:48:32

the Broncos. Okay. He's gone on to do

00:48:34

Right.

00:48:34

>> Yeah. and we knew he would and we loved

00:48:37

Craig and um uh yeah he he played like

00:48:40

200 games for the Camber Raiders back in

00:48:42

the 80s and this is when yeah it was

00:48:45

tough they they they when they first

00:48:47

came in I think 1982 or something they

00:48:49

did they were

00:48:50

>> they were tough years so he played all

00:48:52

those games uh I think he did strength

00:48:55

and conditioning um he did a bit of

00:48:58

assisting coaching

00:49:00

um he's pretty much you know done it all

00:49:03

and then he went into Melbourne and look

00:49:06

what he's done over 20 years. Isn't it

00:49:08

Isn't it fantastic what he's done, you

00:49:10

know? So,

00:49:12

um you you're just pleased for those

00:49:14

guys and you just have massive respect

00:49:15

and you're thankful for what they

00:49:17

invested into you,

00:49:19

>> you know what I mean?

00:49:21

>> Who would be your top rugby coach? One

00:49:23

that you if if you could play for the

00:49:25

rest of your life and only have one

00:49:26

coach, who would it be?

00:49:27

>> That's just like a brutal question, Dom,

00:49:29

because um

00:49:31

>> you don't want to play favorites.

00:49:32

picking your favorite son.

00:49:33

>> That's a tough one. Yeah.

00:49:36

Yeah, it's a tough one, man.

00:49:39

>> Do you want me to answer it?

00:49:41

>> Not if you don't feel comfortable.

00:49:44

>> If you look at Graeme and you look at um

00:49:48

Smithy and Shag. I think of those guys

00:49:50

together. Uh even though I did have Shag

00:49:53

and Canterbury, but then you got like

00:49:56

Dean and you've got um Joe Schmidt.

00:50:00

They're all just qu high quality. So,

00:50:03

um, you know, it's just too it's not a

00:50:08

it's not an easy one to answer that.

00:50:09

Yeah. Sorry, can I just sidestep that?

00:50:12

>> You didn't take a knee on that one.

00:50:13

>> Yeah.

00:50:14

>> Um, and you played with some That's the

00:50:17

coaches. The um you played with some

00:50:19

amazing players, eh, in in both um in

00:50:21

both sports. Who would be the um like

00:50:24

the best athlete that you've ever been a

00:50:25

teammate with? when when I had um Sir

00:50:28

Steve Hansen on the podcast last year,

00:50:29

he said Rich is probably the best rugby

00:50:31

player. Sunny Bill is the best athlete

00:50:33

>> that he's ever coached.

00:50:34

>> Yes. Yeah. And from a coaching point of

00:50:36

view, you know, um some of the athletes

00:50:39

I like are in the front row, you know,

00:50:41

or the, you know, the locks. Um but, um

00:50:45

you know, Wendell Sailor was a

00:50:48

powerhouse. Um

00:50:51

there was some there was some good uh

00:50:53

specimens. Tony Carol was uh you know a

00:50:56

specimen. I if you remember Tony um so

00:51:00

there's all these different guys. You

00:51:02

got Sunny obviously, you know,

00:51:04

Rolls-Royce, you know, like a really

00:51:06

good physical shape and athlete and

00:51:10

um there's there's just so many guys,

00:51:14

you know, it's hard to for me, you know,

00:51:18

does there's does a front row mention in

00:51:20

there because he's 120 kilo and, you

00:51:23

know, he's you don't see his abs, but um

00:51:26

you know, if you don't have him in the,

00:51:29

you know, doing his job, you can't win

00:51:32

games of rugby, you know.

00:51:34

>> Um, so there's different, you know, type

00:51:38

of physiques that you need for different

00:51:40

positions.

00:51:41

>> And, um, so yeah. Yeah, that's all I got

00:51:45

on that one.

00:51:48

>> That almost sounds like another

00:51:48

diplomatic answer.

00:51:50

>> It's just hard. It's just because

00:51:53

there's the, like I said, there's the

00:51:55

athletes that are the easy stand out

00:51:59

ones, but

00:52:01

you got to remember, uh, I almost got

00:52:04

like a loyalty to the type five and the

00:52:06

middle. And the and in in rugby league,

00:52:08

we call it like the the we used to call

00:52:10

it the ruck. I think they call middles

00:52:12

now. So that would be like at the

00:52:14

Broncos that would be Pro, Shane Webbby,

00:52:17

Webkkey, uh Sean Baragan or Luke Pritis

00:52:20

and myself. Um and then you have your

00:52:24

right side and your left side. And

00:52:25

there's good athletic guys in that,

00:52:27

>> but they have different roles that they

00:52:29

do. We have roles that we do. We have to

00:52:33

have an onslaught of making hard meters

00:52:36

and um you know, building momentum and

00:52:38

getting us the right ends. uh when it

00:52:41

comes to uh Roby Union um you know you

00:52:45

got Tony Woodcock uh who's just a beast

00:52:50

uh does he look you know if you put him

00:52:54

in speedos and that is he going to look

00:52:56

uh you know compared to Israel or

00:52:59

someone or uh Dan yeah uh no he look

00:53:04

different but that that ain't going to

00:53:07

work up front so um you need Tony Tony

00:53:10

Woodcock, you know, and you need uh, you

00:53:13

know, uh, Franks and all the guys that I

00:53:16

play with. So, um,

00:53:20

like I said, I've got a bias probably

00:53:22

being a type five guy to to the guys

00:53:25

that um, I stood next to, you know, who

00:53:28

were um, who are very as good at their

00:53:31

job as anyone else, you know. So, yeah.

00:53:34

>> Is is Rich McCall the greatest rugby

00:53:36

player of all time?

00:53:38

Well, that's a big call. Once again, it

00:53:40

goes Well, it goes back to

00:53:42

>> Are you just mad cuz he broke your nose

00:53:44

that time?

00:53:44

>> Oh, yeah.

00:53:46

>> Yeah. What I was saying before, yeah, we

00:53:48

we

00:53:48

>> accidental hit.

00:53:49

>> Yeah, we we met at a 20 20 seconds and

00:53:54

do a a test at twiging him. My face hit

00:53:57

his skull. But um um

00:54:01

Richie uh uh is great player, great guy.

00:54:06

Um,

00:54:08

so there's many great guys and players

00:54:11

though. Um, and I'll keep I'm sort of

00:54:15

saying what I just said before.

00:54:18

It just depends on, you know, uh, a

00:54:20

number 10, he's running the show. So, a

00:54:23

number good numbers, great number 10's

00:54:25

always going to stand out. He's getting

00:54:27

the ball. He's making the plays. Um, the

00:54:31

seven, he's all around the ball. Uh,

00:54:34

which is awesome. you see these sevens

00:54:35

and they're dominant and they do their

00:54:37

role and Richie's uh a legendary player

00:54:43

>> once again there's if they there's a

00:54:46

saying

00:54:48

who's um yeah you know who's the most

00:54:51

important player in a in a rugby team

00:54:53

it's and it's tied prop who's the second

00:54:56

most important the the reserve tie prop

00:54:59

>> because you don't have a scrum you know

00:55:02

rugy's played off you know set piece

00:55:05

you don't have a um you don't have front

00:55:07

football for anyone to play or for you

00:55:09

know guys to do so so um talking uh he'd

00:55:13

definitely be up there um and there's

00:55:16

all these you know other guys um you

00:55:20

know there's great players right now um

00:55:23

there's been great players in the past

00:55:25

uh and um yeah I I I find those those

00:55:30

sort of questions sort of hard to answer

00:55:32

just because you know I just just the

00:55:34

value of it all. So, yeah.

00:55:36

>> Yeah. Oh, you're so diplomatic.

00:55:38

>> Yeah.

00:55:38

>> Yeah. No one's going to be offended.

00:55:40

>> Yeah. Well, you know, for me, you know,

00:55:42

you look at I even establish

00:55:46

he played now, big specimen, won a

00:55:48

couple World Cups. Um, you know, you

00:55:52

look at different guys, you know, you

00:55:54

know, Pine Tree Maids. um you know all

00:55:57

these Brian L'ore there's been a lot of

00:56:01

that we're that you you can't com it's

00:56:04

hard to compare um errors because

00:56:07

there's you know there's strength and

00:56:09

conditioning and all this stuff now or

00:56:11

back then there was this or that.

00:56:14

>> It's just sort of hard you know to to

00:56:16

put your sort of um definitely a

00:56:19

legendary all black and um became a

00:56:22

great leader. So yeah,

00:56:26

>> your hard work, Bradthorn.

00:56:27

>> Oh, no. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

00:56:30

>> Hey, um let's go um all all the way

00:56:32

back. So you're born in Mosgill. Uh then

00:56:34

you spend some time in Banickburn.

00:56:36

>> Yeah.

00:56:37

>> Yeah, I know that that's red wine

00:56:38

territory near

00:56:40

>> used to be um farmers uh orchards,

00:56:44

>> apricots and cherries and stuff. I think

00:56:46

there's still cherries and stuff there

00:56:48

now. Battling away. Uh and and maybe

00:56:52

Marino um sheep farming. Uh you know, it

00:56:57

was guys are you know uh that they were

00:57:03

trying the best and but with the

00:57:05

vineyards and that came along. Um you

00:57:08

know it was perfect. They thrive the

00:57:11

grapes thrive in those that altitude and

00:57:13

those conditions and

00:57:16

>> um it's come a long way. When I go back

00:57:18

there, we've got the speedway there, you

00:57:20

know, the speedways park.

00:57:22

>> Yeah, it's incredible.

00:57:23

>> Yeah. Um,

00:57:25

it's uh, you know, it's really grown in

00:57:28

Queenstown and all, you know, all that.

00:57:29

So, yeah, it's cool. A great place to

00:57:31

grow up. Played my first rugby there as

00:57:33

a six-year-old um for my primary school,

00:57:37

Cromwell Primary, played under eights

00:57:40

and then that was it. You know, I I've

00:57:42

heard people in the past, oh, he played

00:57:44

uh rugby up until, you know, first 15.

00:57:46

No, no, no. Underage was the last time

00:57:49

until I played um with the Crusaders as

00:57:52

a 26-y old, you know,

00:57:54

>> cuz then Yeah. Then we went across to

00:57:56

Australia and I learned New Game. So,

00:57:58

yeah.

00:57:58

>> So, back then um you were called Boo.

00:58:01

That was the family nickname.

00:58:03

>> That's hard to hear that way.

00:58:04

>> Is it? Does Does anyone still call you

00:58:06

Boo now? Does your older brother call

00:58:07

you Boo? Does your

00:58:09

>> Sometimes he does and I let him get away

00:58:11

with it because um it's my big bro. You

00:58:14

know, he's 50. He's a couple years. He's

00:58:16

your age. Um couple years older. So

00:58:18

>> he's bigger than you as well, right?

00:58:20

>> He's the big dog. Yeah. Six uh 68. He is

00:58:24

3 in bigger. So um and he's the older

00:58:27

brother. So I have to cop a bit of that.

00:58:30

But yeah, you it got to a point when I

00:58:31

said 14, 15, start to think you're

00:58:34

pretty cool and stuff. And I got my mom

00:58:37

or my dad yelling out, "Go Boo. Go Boo."

00:58:40

And I'm like, "H we're going to lose

00:58:42

that nickname. It's time to It was good

00:58:44

as a kid, little guy, but that didn't

00:58:47

that didn't cut it down as a 15y old

00:58:49

trying to, you know, be cool and

00:58:51

whatever. So, yeah.

00:58:52

>> [ __ ] That's That's wonderful, though.

00:58:54

That's a great a great nickname. The um

00:58:56

the man the middle-aged man sitting in

00:58:58

front of me now. Um how is he the same

00:59:00

and how is he different to Boo at

00:59:03

Silverream Primary School in Mos?

00:59:05

>> Yeah. Uh Love, Rough, and Tumble.

00:59:07

>> Yeah. you know, um

00:59:11

I'd like to think I'm pretty friendly,

00:59:14

you know. I'm a softy inside, you know.

00:59:16

I'm um

00:59:18

uh

00:59:20

um yeah, I'm a I'm a softy. I remember

00:59:23

my dad saying um there was a

00:59:27

uh there was a the good guys or

00:59:29

something. It was a business in

00:59:31

Australia and they had an advert, bunch

00:59:33

of softies. He said, "That's us, mate.

00:59:34

We're you know." So, um, but yeah, uh,

00:59:39

yeah, I like I'm cheeky. Uh,

00:59:43

usually you get like a bigger guy, he

00:59:45

can be, um, a certain way, but because I

00:59:49

was like the little guy, I actually had

00:59:51

a foster brother who lived with us for

00:59:53

four years. He was a year older than my

00:59:55

brother. Um, so I had him, my brother,

01:00:00

and and I was the cheeky guy. You know,

01:00:03

I get I annoy older kids. I remember

01:00:06

getting beat up out the front of church,

01:00:08

beat up on Christmas day by other kids

01:00:11

cuz, you know, there's a cheeky bit of a

01:00:13

rascal guy, I guess. You know, when we

01:00:15

were talking before about in the gym,

01:00:16

you I'm walking around.

01:00:19

>> Yeah. Yeah. Pandering away. So, yeah,

01:00:21

there's a there's a probably a good

01:00:23

amount of cheekiness to me as well. Did

01:00:25

you get in much trouble? What was the

01:00:27

most trouble you got in as as a kid?

01:00:30

>> Um,

01:00:32

yeah, we we were um we respected our

01:00:36

parents and we didn't really get in too

01:00:39

much trouble. Um, like I said, you know,

01:00:43

um, so you might be silly little things,

01:00:46

you know, whatever. Probably that if I

01:00:48

thought about trouble would be my

01:00:49

mother, um, when we moved to Australia,

01:00:52

she's a nurse. 40 years a nurse she was.

01:00:54

and um she um used to do night duty when

01:00:58

we first rocked up because you know

01:01:00

you've come and you and uh night duty is

01:01:04

pretty hard. She do six days a week

01:01:06

night duty. What that meant was on the

01:01:09

weekends um dad was working but we had

01:01:13

to be quiet during the day and because

01:01:15

mom would have to sleep you know what I

01:01:17

mean

01:01:18

>> and if we made if we sometimes we forget

01:01:21

and be making a lot of noise or having

01:01:23

the TV up

01:01:24

>> and if mom got woken up that's when you

01:01:27

knew when dad come home you know we uh

01:01:31

you know he'd line us up military style

01:01:33

and you get you know smack smack. Um, so

01:01:37

yeah, that's not big time in trouble,

01:01:39

you know. Um, we we were just, you know,

01:01:43

mom and dad said goes and um

01:01:47

>> you know that we're pretty respectful.

01:01:49

I'll just say um just I mentioned my

01:01:52

that we had a foster brother. Um that

01:01:55

was uh my dad that was big on that and

01:01:58

uh just his own upbringing. He sort of

01:02:01

um

01:02:02

guess had a bit of a you his dad was an

01:02:05

alcoholic and it was he lived in state

01:02:07

housing in Moscow and uh yeah he didn't

01:02:10

have that connection with his dad that

01:02:12

he felt I guess he wished he had and he

01:02:14

poured that into us but I think dad

01:02:17

wanted to give he got to we got to a

01:02:19

good space and dad wanted to give back

01:02:21

and we had a foster brother who lived

01:02:22

with us for 4 years. He'd been like 33

01:02:26

different homes or something and um and

01:02:29

we're actually looking to adopt him. Um

01:02:32

he's living in Australia with us. Uh I

01:02:34

he was like a brother to me and and we

01:02:37

treat him like a brother. That's what I

01:02:38

mean. And um but yeah, his mother um um

01:02:44

wanted him not to do that and to come

01:02:46

back to New Zealand. And unfortunately a

01:02:48

month after going back, he was in um a

01:02:51

boarding in a boarding school. like a

01:02:54

boy's home.

01:02:55

>> Uh just boarding school like a school.

01:02:57

>> Oh, okay.

01:02:58

>> But

01:02:59

>> you know,

01:03:00

>> he was around he had a strong role model

01:03:02

with my dad and all that sort of stuff.

01:03:04

But I took my hat off to my dad around

01:03:07

that because um um

01:03:10

>> you know uh yeah, it was cool that he

01:03:13

really wanted to he had his two sons,

01:03:15

but he he wanted to give you know

01:03:18

someone um I guess a chance to have that

01:03:21

opportunity.

01:03:22

>> Yeah. Yeah.

01:03:23

Yeah. So, um, Lindseay Thorne.

01:03:26

>> Yeah. Yeah. Let's talk about him. He he

01:03:29

passed he was huge influence on you as

01:03:30

we've talked about. Um, champions do

01:03:32

extra. That was a quote from um him.

01:03:36

>> Um, he gave you a boot up the ass when

01:03:37

you need it. Sounds like he gave you

01:03:39

love when you needed it. Um, you lost

01:03:42

him when when you were 19, like seven

01:03:44

games into your into your into your

01:03:46

league career. So there's so much that

01:03:48

he missed, but um also so much that he

01:03:50

got to saw got to see, which is sort of

01:03:52

how you frame it. Like he had done it

01:03:53

done all he needed to do as a parent to

01:03:55

send you and your brother on your way.

01:03:57

>> Job done. Um it sucked that that he

01:04:01

passed and he's not at weddings. He's

01:04:03

not with the grand being a granddad and

01:04:05

all this sort of stuff. But job done,

01:04:07

Lindsay, because

01:04:09

me and Aaron, you know, I was just about

01:04:12

to turn 20. Aaron was 22, my brother.

01:04:14

and 20 years of goodness he poured into

01:04:17

you know for me and 22 for my brother

01:04:19

and so the challenges of life and that

01:04:23

we we were you know walked forward and

01:04:27

and you thank God for my for my dad and

01:04:30

my brother would say the same thing um

01:04:32

if he'd gone uh you know as a 15year-old

01:04:36

or something or 13y old it would have

01:04:38

been I think a way more massive thing

01:04:42

you know but I'm just saying but for

01:04:43

half of me and my brother. Um he he done

01:04:48

uh he did a great job there and it's an

01:04:51

it's cool to honor him in this book

01:04:54

because um I talk about uh in the World

01:04:57

Cup final after the siren goes, you

01:05:01

know, I was so pent up and energy. I was

01:05:04

balling on my knees balling and all

01:05:08

black physio Pete Gallagghous you know

01:05:09

who's a friend of mine said you know

01:05:12

Lindsay be proud of you which is um it

01:05:14

was my dad and uh it was really cool in

01:05:17

that moment but um you know to have all

01:05:21

those sort of moments uh those

01:05:25

experiences and all that you know you're

01:05:26

just so grateful you got set up how he

01:05:29

treated my mother um you can talk about

01:05:32

it but you see you got of dad actioning

01:05:35

it, you know, that, you know, meeting my

01:05:39

wife and um and how I've raised my own

01:05:41

kids, you know, it's it's just cool to

01:05:45

uh to honor him a bit, you know, in the

01:05:49

book um and my mother as well.

01:05:53

>> I mean, he's been um out of your life

01:05:55

longer than what he was in it. Is it

01:05:56

still is it still painful now to think

01:05:58

about him, to talk about him? You know

01:06:00

what, Dom, what I've liked is I've, you

01:06:04

know, I just talked about him. I can

01:06:06

talk about it. There's many years where

01:06:08

I'd choke up and, you know, so um

01:06:13

I had to talk at my brother's wedding

01:06:15

and you got married, you know, got to

01:06:18

I'm basically,

01:06:20

you know, dad would have been saying

01:06:22

something. So,

01:06:24

>> it was hard to talk about him and

01:06:26

different times like that. You know,

01:06:28

there's a couple of times um some of my

01:06:31

players um lost their dads and

01:06:37

uh I I really understood how they

01:06:39

feeling like they are young guys. Um we

01:06:42

had a young guy called Jordan Paya. Um I

01:06:45

don't know if you heard of him. He was

01:06:46

in the Queensland Reds and Oz actually

01:06:48

got on well with his dad uh Tu who's a

01:06:52

um good guy and uh he passed suddenly

01:06:55

and um

01:06:58

some of the guys were going to uh it was

01:07:01

Luke Khan who's a lock that I had and

01:07:03

Chris Ortier was a center I had they

01:07:05

were going to his house and they rang me

01:07:09

to let me know cuz it just happened

01:07:11

suddenly to to support him and

01:07:14

Um, it caught me unaware. This is a guy

01:07:17

I got on pretty well with. And, um,

01:07:21

I actually halfway through the phone

01:07:23

call basically fell down my knees in my

01:07:26

bedroom balling and my wife was just

01:07:30

hugging me, you know. But

01:07:33

I felt um because I knew what Jordan was

01:07:37

the pain and how hard that is. And um I

01:07:41

think

01:07:43

uh you know just over the years you know

01:07:46

you process it a bit. And um when my dad

01:07:51

passed he died on the um

01:07:54

on the Sunday morning.

01:07:57

I actually got to see him only because

01:08:00

um I came home at like daylight. I've

01:08:02

been out at pubs with my mates and and

01:08:05

then he's gone. He's on a table and he's

01:08:07

not there. And um my mom's just balling

01:08:10

and uh whatever. So,

01:08:13

>> but

01:08:15

on the Sunday, so on the Tuesday

01:08:18

afternoon, I went and trained at the

01:08:20

Broncos cuz I just there's so much grief

01:08:22

you can take. I just need to do get away

01:08:25

from that. But we were just remembering

01:08:27

we had the wedding uh the funeral on the

01:08:29

Wednesday. It's pretty quick, eh? Turn

01:08:32

around. And I don't know if that's

01:08:34

looking back, you know, maybe over time,

01:08:40

you know, there's different things where

01:08:42

they have a body at a house for a while

01:08:44

to let people,

01:08:46

>> you know, cross

01:08:46

>> he said.

01:08:47

>> Yeah. All that sort of stuff. There was

01:08:49

a a massive king hit,

01:08:52

you know, and

01:08:55

um you know, he's the hardest thing that

01:08:58

I've had to deal with in my life. and I

01:09:02

hadn't really had anything bad happen

01:09:04

till then. And then he's like my best

01:09:06

friend. He's my uh he's my guy, you

01:09:08

know. Um and

01:09:12

uh so

01:09:14

so yeah, like um

01:09:18

Pete Gallagher mentioning him, yeah,

01:09:20

when we won that World Cup, that's why I

01:09:22

wrote the book. It's pretty nice. Um I

01:09:26

used to uh in the Broncos uh sorry in

01:09:29

the All Blacks after test matches often

01:09:32

the parents would be around the families

01:09:34

and sometimes the some of the fathers

01:09:37

and then some of the coaching staff

01:09:39

would be in the team room and I would go

01:09:42

there as well cuz after a big energy

01:09:44

game you'd be lying there at 3:00 a.m.

01:09:47

with your eyes wide open. It's hard to

01:09:49

sleep. So, but I'm not a guy who's going

01:09:51

out, you know, I'm a family man,

01:09:53

whatever. What I used to love was just

01:09:56

hanging out with those fathers,

01:09:57

>> cuz mom wasn't there. So I would um talk

01:10:02

to Richie's dad and to Hory's dad and

01:10:06

they

01:10:08

wouldn't have realized it, but yeah, I

01:10:09

was I I just when I see fathers with

01:10:14

their sons and stuff, the Franks is

01:10:16

there, all these guys. Uh, I just really

01:10:19

appreciate it cuz he wasn't when it's a

01:10:23

it's a tough one when um they don't uh

01:10:27

they're not there the next day or the

01:10:29

next one

01:10:30

>> or the next year, you know. And um

01:10:33

so yeah, I believe I'll see my father

01:10:35

again. Um, but yeah, he's been missed.

01:10:38

And uh um you know, like I said, it's

01:10:42

cool to to uh in a way with this book,

01:10:47

you know, just just honor my dad and the

01:10:49

impact he had on me and and also my

01:10:51

mother who was a real rock and they were

01:10:54

a great team together. They were took

01:10:56

mom two years to get over. Uh dad, she

01:10:58

told me. Um so yeah, it's a tough old

01:11:00

time. Plenty of people go through it

01:11:02

though, don't they? So yeah.

01:11:05

Well, it's the price of great love,

01:11:06

isn't it? And I I'd even sit two years

01:11:08

to get over it. I I don't know if you

01:11:10

ever fully get over it. I think it

01:11:11

always sits close to the surface. Eh,

01:11:13

>> I just think for mom, she got to a space

01:11:16

where she can go for she's never

01:11:18

remarried. She has Alzheimer's now. You

01:11:20

I'm going to go down and see her now

01:11:22

that I'm back in New Zealand

01:11:25

and she's probably not going to know

01:11:27

know me, but um yeah, it's um

01:11:31

>> Brad, that's terrible.

01:11:32

>> Yeah, it's not.

01:11:33

>> It's heartbreaking. Yeah, it's it's just

01:11:36

a journey of life. And

01:11:38

um when dad passed, one thing I sort of

01:11:43

understood with my brother is time to,

01:11:45

you know, mom and dad raised us and

01:11:47

they're always there, but time to look

01:11:48

after mom, you know. So

01:11:51

>> we made sure, me and my brother, that

01:11:54

one of us was at home cuz I bought a

01:11:57

house and I moved out. My brother was

01:11:58

home, then he he came to New Zealand. I

01:12:02

was back at home when I came to do that

01:12:05

rugby challenge as a 26 year old. That

01:12:07

was the first time mom was going to be

01:12:09

on her own. So I'd been 19 when dad

01:12:11

passed. So it been like five six years.

01:12:15

But I got to take it's time to I got to

01:12:17

take on this I got to live my live life

01:12:19

and take on this challenge. And uh I

01:12:22

talked to mom about it and she was

01:12:24

obviously supportive in that. I think

01:12:27

from memory she went over and did some

01:12:28

nursing in England that year just to be

01:12:31

you know

01:12:32

>> change of scenery.

01:12:33

>> Yeah. But what you realize is, you know,

01:12:35

with the Alzheimer's and stuff, um, you

01:12:38

know, you're looking, uh, she's in

01:12:41

Christ Church, my brother's there, and

01:12:43

but for the last 10 years or so, she'd

01:12:45

been in Brisbane, you know, I brought

01:12:47

her back home, and I brought her back,

01:12:48

but um,

01:12:50

>> yeah, it's, uh,

01:12:53

me and my brother, our job to look after

01:12:57

mom. So um and she's the 30 odd years

01:13:01

since dad passed as I said she's never

01:13:04

remarried but she's um gone about her

01:13:06

life and um what a wonderful woman so

01:13:10

much respect for her.

01:13:14

>> So when you see your mom um like now or

01:13:17

this week with Alzheimer's

01:13:21

I'm I'm fortunate enough to be in a

01:13:22

position where I I haven't had a family

01:13:24

member that's had Alzheimer's or

01:13:25

dementia.

01:13:26

How how do you handle it? What do you

01:13:28

talk about? What do you do?

01:13:30

>> I I'm not one of the guys that goes um

01:13:32

keeps testing her memory like does she

01:13:35

know me not or not know me. I sense that

01:13:38

she's um happy when she sees me.

01:13:42

I sense that sometimes she probably does

01:13:44

know me. You know, she probably still

01:13:46

does know me, but um

01:13:49

>> yeah, like she seems real happy and warm

01:13:51

and I you know, I don't bother asking

01:13:54

her questions. do you remember this? Or

01:13:57

I just tell her I love her. And um I

01:14:00

like her being free. I like to get her

01:14:03

when she was

01:14:05

I have no relations uh in Australia.

01:14:08

They're all in New Zealand. So it was

01:14:11

part of bringing her back. My brother,

01:14:13

her sister, uh cousins, whatever. So,

01:14:16

but when I was in Australia, I'd take

01:14:19

I'd always take my dog. I'm a big dog. I

01:14:21

love my lab. Uh Maisie, I'm a big dog

01:14:24

person and um always found that mom

01:14:27

loved having the dog around. I'd always

01:14:30

take her out and uh to a park. I just

01:14:34

want to like being free because you you

01:14:36

get locked. You're in a place and you

01:14:39

know they're around people. They're not

01:14:42

>> It's a tough old gig around people.

01:14:45

>> You know that's your new home now, you

01:14:47

know. And she lived with us for about a

01:14:49

year and a half and it got real tough

01:14:51

there. Yeah, this is while you were

01:14:52

coaching the Reeds as well.

01:14:53

>> It was tough. Like sometimes um I get a

01:14:56

phone call or um my mom had been

01:15:00

walking, you know, didn't know where she

01:15:02

was and some people had found her and

01:15:05

all this sort of stuff. So, but I used

01:15:07

to like taking her out to we have like

01:15:09

these mud flats when the tide goes out

01:15:11

and Sandate and Nudgy Beach. I don't

01:15:13

know if you know anything about

01:15:14

Brisbane. And I I like taking the dog

01:15:17

out there, you know, and um I just like

01:15:20

taking my mom out there cuz she's just

01:15:22

for that hour I say she's free. Just

01:15:24

walk wherever you want to walk. Um and

01:15:28

um you just uh you just this are just a

01:15:32

holy love. this is a woman that brought

01:15:34

you into the world and um you know uh

01:15:38

you just want her to feel safe and good

01:15:42

and um you know you are just grateful to

01:15:46

God for her and um

01:15:49

uh you know you just you're bringing

01:15:51

that just that connection you know like

01:15:54

I said I don't spend time saying oh mom

01:15:56

do you remember this or you know what

01:15:58

she doesn't know who I am no I just be

01:16:00

there

01:16:01

>> and uh I I don't really ask questions. I

01:16:04

just say, "Oh, isn't this nice? Isn't

01:16:06

that nice?" You know. So, you know. So,

01:16:08

>> is is there a manual for this? Like for

01:16:11

kids that have got parents or, you know,

01:16:13

loved ones with Alzheimer's? Like, I

01:16:16

feel like testing them. I don't know. I

01:16:17

feel like that would that could be like

01:16:18

embarrassing.

01:16:20

>> Yeah.

01:16:21

>> If it was me, I'd probably has to have

01:16:22

my pride. So, I'd have a moment where

01:16:24

I'd maybe lie and say I do remember

01:16:26

something even if I didn't.

01:16:27

>> Yeah. Yeah. I'm not sure. Um Yeah. It's

01:16:31

just like I said, that's sort of how I

01:16:34

go. I just want my mom to feel it's our

01:16:36

time. It's our job to look out for mom.

01:16:38

You know, dad's not here. If dad was

01:16:40

around and he was say didn't have

01:16:42

Alzheimer's, he'd be looking after mom

01:16:44

and whatever. the the time that's tough

01:16:46

with Alzheimer's and dementia and that

01:16:48

I'll tell you when the time's tough is

01:16:51

so earlier on when all of a sudden

01:16:53

you're saying to them um yeah you can't

01:16:56

ride your bike because um

01:17:00

you know if they just cycle out in front

01:17:02

of someone in a car or something or you

01:17:05

know the you got to take the license you

01:17:07

know yeah there's these things where the

01:17:10

person that has the the alz you know the

01:17:13

dementia or whatever they're saying oh

01:17:15

Why can't I drive? Cuz they're not

01:17:17

really aware. Do you know what I mean?

01:17:19

>> Yeah.

01:17:19

>> So, and in a way, the people who are

01:17:22

caring for them can become the bad guy.

01:17:25

And it' be this, if I started saying to

01:17:26

you, Dom, you can't, sorry, mate, you

01:17:28

can't do this, you can't do that. You'd

01:17:30

be going, why why can't I, you know, why

01:17:32

are you telling me what to do, you know?

01:17:34

So,

01:17:35

>> there can be a little bit of um that's

01:17:37

not much fun because you almost become

01:17:39

like the bad guy. That's where probably

01:17:41

the

01:17:43

um when they in a a place uh like a a

01:17:46

place where they um go um I guess the

01:17:50

nurses can be a bit of the bad guy and

01:17:52

you get back to being the good guy, you

01:17:54

know, you can you um spend time with

01:17:57

them. So

01:17:58

>> So she's in a a care facility now.

01:18:00

>> Yeah. And it's a really good one. Um, in

01:18:03

Christ Church, we're very grateful to

01:18:05

the effort, all the people they put in

01:18:07

for all those people, all those uh

01:18:10

people that are in there.

01:18:11

>> How how often do you get back?

01:18:14

>> This will be

01:18:16

I brought her back about uh a year and

01:18:19

uh just over a year ago. So, this will

01:18:21

be the second time that I'll be back

01:18:24

since then

01:18:26

>> because yeah, I'm just got all these

01:18:29

other stuff going on as well. So, it

01:18:31

sort of sucks because for, you know, all

01:18:34

that time, um, I've been there, you

01:18:38

know, it's been me and mom. Um, like I

01:18:42

said, all the relations, everyone's over

01:18:43

here. So, it was sort of tough. Uh,

01:18:47

taking her back. Um,

01:18:49

>> and I can't when you go and visit, I

01:18:50

can't imagine how hard leaving will be

01:18:52

again.

01:18:53

>> It's Yeah, you're just you're just

01:18:55

saying you're just saying to her, you're

01:18:58

just saying that you love him. Yeah, I

01:19:00

love you, Mom. And it probably sounds

01:19:03

like if you said it normally, it would

01:19:06

sound over the top, but you just want to

01:19:08

enjoy saying it.

01:19:09

>> Mhm.

01:19:10

>> So, you just Well, you got the

01:19:11

opportunity.

01:19:11

>> I just have my arm around her and um you

01:19:14

know, it gets to a point where um maybe

01:19:16

you sit down and she's sort of walks

01:19:20

around the lounge room they have there

01:19:21

and looks back at you and it's like she

01:19:24

doesn't recognize you.

01:19:27

It's just part of what that is. And um

01:19:29

you know it's uh we're finite and

01:19:32

>> like I said I have a faith I believe you

01:19:35

know my mother mother you know will join

01:19:38

my father I you know in a better place

01:19:41

to come. So yeah

01:19:43

>> how how awesome would it be if there

01:19:44

happens to be a moment of clarity where

01:19:45

she calls you boo.

01:19:47

>> Ah yeah well there you go. Um um

01:19:51

probably unlikely now though.

01:19:52

>> Yeah. Really?

01:19:53

>> Yeah. she she's still functioning um and

01:19:56

stuff, but yeah, I'm just I'm not just

01:19:58

not like I said, I'm not sure and I

01:20:01

don't really ask um um you know I I feel

01:20:06

like when she see me her face lights up

01:20:09

and that you know

01:20:10

>> something something clicks, something

01:20:12

registers.

01:20:12

>> Yeah. Yeah. I would Who would know what

01:20:14

she would know? Maybe I'm familiar and

01:20:17

it's a I'd say I'm a real familiar face.

01:20:20

maybe she does know I'm her son and uh

01:20:22

you know it's Brad and you know this

01:20:24

sort of stuff but I just I'm I'm less

01:20:28

focused on that and more on just uh I

01:20:30

just want her to feel good and I want to

01:20:33

value my mother you know and um with dad

01:20:38

gone like I said me and Aaron is our

01:20:42

time to sort of we look out for mom so

01:20:46

yeah

01:20:47

>> yeah I I suppose due to the the

01:20:49

different ways is um your Yeah. Your

01:20:52

mom's got Alzheimer's. Um your dad died

01:20:54

on a had a heart incident on a bike

01:20:56

crash. Yes. So the story goes in your

01:20:59

book which you share about so openly. Um

01:21:01

you you'd been on a night out. You come

01:21:03

home like 4:00 or 5 in the morning. Your

01:21:04

dad's in his Lyra just going out for a

01:21:06

bike ride. So you pass each other. Um so

01:21:08

I'm guessing in that sort of

01:21:10

circumstance, in that environment at

01:21:11

that age, you didn't say I love you as

01:21:13

the last words.

01:21:14

>> No, I was just happy for him. It's funny

01:21:16

that night out like it was just weird

01:21:19

because um we got puppy here having a

01:21:22

good scratching the floor.

01:21:23

>> Good on him.

01:21:25

>> Um but he um um Oh, when I was out I my

01:21:31

best mate, his brother was with us and

01:21:34

we just wanted to get a taxi. Brisbane's

01:21:36

a big city head out our way. Um and he

01:21:41

was just wanting to hang on. when he I

01:21:44

think he he he was trying to um chat to

01:21:46

this nice girl or whatever and um he's

01:21:50

like just give me 20 minutes 30 minutes

01:21:52

he just you know he's a nice guy he

01:21:54

wasn't a bad intention guy but um and we

01:21:57

gave him that time okay time to go just

01:21:59

I need a bit more you know it's like he

01:22:01

said it like three times I just my head

01:22:03

and man let's go you know it's going to

01:22:06

be sun's going to come up soon comes up

01:22:08

around you know 4:35 in Brisbane and uh

01:22:11

finally it comes I get home it's by

01:22:13

daylight. I'm just like far out. Dad's

01:22:17

um there getting ready to cycle. He'd

01:22:20

cycle with mates and then uh they'd have

01:22:23

a coffee and then uh at the end of it do

01:22:26

a good cycle and then like a lot of

01:22:28

people do and then he'd come home.

01:22:30

>> And um so yeah, I saw him. He was

01:22:33

looking so good, so fresh. And um he'd

01:22:36

had angina about 6 months earlier and I

01:22:40

think they done put a stent in or

01:22:42

something and he'd been going you know

01:22:44

it really affected him and then he's a

01:22:46

really fit healthy guy. Seemed like a

01:22:48

healthy guy and then yeah he um seemed

01:22:51

like he's in you know really good neck

01:22:54

and doing well he's pumped and then Boo

01:22:57

Booya came up they found him three

01:23:00

houses down from our house. three houses

01:23:02

down. Uh

01:23:04

and um don't know if he you know he he

01:23:08

was riding and then fell you know fell

01:23:10

off or if he don't know he's just on a

01:23:13

guy's lawn and you know that was uh you

01:23:16

know brutal for my brother. He was the

01:23:18

guy that went down there and they were

01:23:19

doing all the you know the stuff on the

01:23:21

ambulance all this sort of stuff. Yeah.

01:23:23

And then

01:23:24

>> like I said you know

01:23:26

>> Yeah. Well, you you weren't you were

01:23:28

sort of um you hadn't rediscovered um

01:23:30

your Christianity at that point and um

01:23:32

you were out out drinking. Why didn't

01:23:34

you go off the rails at that point? What

01:23:36

kept you from going off the rails?

01:23:38

>> Uh well, I was pretty loose

01:23:41

>> for you know for the next um uh 19 20 21

01:23:46

22. I've got a nick name for that

01:23:49

period. It's the mush years cuz they all

01:23:51

just immersed into it, you know. I just,

01:23:54

you know, um, train hard, play hard,

01:23:57

body hard, you know, and I was did all

01:23:59

three, you know, hard, you know. So that

01:24:02

was the league way.

01:24:03

>> I saw like a news headline um about you

01:24:05

from um 2009 and it said Brad Thorne

01:24:09

from Hellraiser to family man.

01:24:11

>> You were never a hellraiser. I wouldn't

01:24:12

say it was a hell raiser to me. Yeah, it

01:24:15

might be, you know, you editor editors

01:24:17

are trying to get um, you know,

01:24:19

attention to it. Yeah,

01:24:21

>> I wasn't I was just another guy,

01:24:23

>> you know, binge drinker and um,

01:24:26

>> in that, you know, that sort of time,

01:24:29

that environment, you know,

01:24:31

>> there's it's pretty loose. It's pretty

01:24:34

loose living by me. So, um that that's

01:24:38

how I was rolling and uh I guess had a

01:24:40

profile and you know um I guess got some

01:24:44

attention and

01:24:46

yeah I I took advantage of that I guess

01:24:49

and um

01:24:50

>> I've heard you refer to yourself as a

01:24:51

womanizer.

01:24:53

>> Yeah.

01:24:53

>> Yeah.

01:24:53

>> Is that what you mean? You're a hit with

01:24:54

the ladies? Uh, I wouldn't say

01:24:56

necessarily a hit with the ladies, but

01:24:58

um that was that was just, you know,

01:25:02

what was where was that? And um I was a

01:25:08

a love my grog and um

01:25:12

yeah there was uh

01:25:15

that that came with yeah like I said

01:25:18

that was the you know we trained hard we

01:25:20

played hard we partied hard you know and

01:25:22

um the thing about that was that there

01:25:26

was an emptiness there and a and a

01:25:29

sadness really and I say in the book the

01:25:34

worst part was just nothing. Feeling

01:25:36

like the word cardboard or I'm trying to

01:25:38

think of something that

01:25:41

just transactional. It It's sort of like

01:25:43

I write this sort of book. I got a wife.

01:25:45

I got a daughter. Got my sons.

01:25:48

>> Yeah. I don't I don't go under great

01:25:50

depths around stuff. I don't want to,

01:25:53

you know, I'm um

01:25:56

respectful, you know,

01:25:59

>> but yeah, as a loose unit and um

01:26:03

um

01:26:05

>> yeah, it got me to a point where yeah, I

01:26:08

was I basically had all this stuff. I'd

01:26:12

achieved all these things as a 22 year

01:26:14

old

01:26:16

and you know with all that all my ego

01:26:18

and all my you know the life I was

01:26:21

living the thing that I didn't

01:26:24

understand was I'm living the life why

01:26:26

am I not happy you know and that's when

01:26:29

I why do I not f feel fulfilled

01:26:33

fulfilled why am I you know I've got all

01:26:36

this these things but I still feel lack

01:26:39

of real purpose and

01:26:41

>> it It was like an equation for me and I

01:26:44

I was like it doesn't add up. I'm

01:26:47

supposed to be happy. I've done all the

01:26:48

stuff. I've got everything. I'm at the

01:26:50

top of the mountain playing for

01:26:51

Australia.

01:26:53

I got a house, car, all this sort of

01:26:55

stuff. So, that's what made me think um

01:26:59

start think more about God. And uh we're

01:27:03

we were family that were involved in the

01:27:06

church and that growing up in New

01:27:07

Zealand. when we came across to

01:27:09

Australia,

01:27:10

um I used to love Sunday school and all

01:27:13

that sort of stuff and um learning about

01:27:15

Jesus as a little kid, but um all the

01:27:18

stories and the songs and that, but uh

01:27:20

when we came to Australia, we didn't um

01:27:22

we went to a church and we didn't really

01:27:25

feel comfortable there and uh we just

01:27:28

stopped going. And then um it was six or

01:27:32

seven years before mom and dad had a

01:27:33

neighbor that moved in who was a

01:27:35

Christian and invited them to a church

01:27:37

and mom and dad ended up getting back

01:27:38

you know back and my brother uh um had a

01:27:42

friend who invited you know at school.

01:27:45

Um

01:27:46

and uh you know he he he came to faith

01:27:50

and and I was sort of like the last one

01:27:53

and um I I had stuff I was going to

01:27:58

achieve and um like I said I got that

01:28:02

space where I I had it all and uh and

01:28:06

like yeah like I said I it felt there's

01:28:08

an emptiness to it and it really

01:28:10

confused me and that's when because of

01:28:12

those memories of when I was young how

01:28:14

good I used to feel

01:28:16

uh and getting along to a church with my

01:28:19

mom and dad and just seeing the impact

01:28:21

it had on my brother,

01:28:23

the people, you know, Christians and

01:28:25

stuff, the peace they had, I just knew I

01:28:27

didn't have it.

01:28:28

>> And uh that's where Yeah. So, I don't

01:28:32

know if you want me to keep talking

01:28:34

about it or

01:28:34

>> Yeah. One one thing I'm really intrigued

01:28:36

about um by the way, thanks for being so

01:28:38

open about everything, you know, your

01:28:40

parents and um the faith stuff as well.

01:28:42

One thing um I'm super intrigued about

01:28:44

is so so you're this rock star in

01:28:46

Brisbane in the 1990s. You're playing in

01:28:48

the Broncos during the Dynasty years.

01:28:50

You're this um State of Origin player.

01:28:53

You're playing for the Kangaroos.

01:28:55

>> Um what was it like coming out to your

01:28:57

teammates at that point that you're

01:28:59

religious? It must have been so

01:29:00

isolating.

01:29:01

>> It wasn't um popular, you know, but you

01:29:05

know, when I look

01:29:06

>> like a lot of judgment.

01:29:07

>> Yeah, at the time. Yeah, it was. Yeah,

01:29:09

because you're a Christian. You're

01:29:10

supposed to be a goody, you know, um,

01:29:14

>> god bother.

01:29:15

>> What's the Simpsons? You know, Ned

01:29:17

Flanders, you know, it's not cool. It's

01:29:21

not strong, you know. So, yeah, it it

01:29:25

put you a bit on the outer, you know,

01:29:27

but I look back on that and I thank God

01:29:31

for it because if it had been just

01:29:32

cruisy, maybe I it made me make a

01:29:35

decision. Okay, I'm going to get a bit

01:29:37

of heat around this.

01:29:39

So, am I going to follow the Lord or

01:29:43

not? You know, if it had just been

01:29:44

easier than that, maybe I would have

01:29:46

been fluffy about my faith. But it made

01:29:47

me that made me go, "Yeah, I believe

01:29:51

there's a God that loves me. Jesus died

01:29:53

for my sins. He, you know, I believe

01:29:55

he's raised again, you know, and I

01:29:58

submit my life to him and and uh I'm

01:30:01

going to cop and um so be it. Uh he my

01:30:07

life has changed. I have peace. Um you

01:30:11

know I feel fulfillment. I have purpose

01:30:15

and I there's a God that loves me and

01:30:17

there's you know a life in front of me

01:30:20

to to live walking with him. So

01:30:23

um

01:30:25

when you look at it talking here Dom end

01:30:28

of the day you know I think Christians

01:30:30

are the most persecuted uh people on the

01:30:33

planet. I think it's like 350 million. I

01:30:36

saw some stat like uh there's some you

01:30:40

look at Nigeria, you look at these

01:30:41

places around the world, North Korea,

01:30:44

um all around the world, they're getting

01:30:46

their lives taken, you know. Um I got a

01:30:49

bit of you know, coldness or you know

01:30:53

some you know Alfie used to sing Kumbaya

01:30:55

and

01:30:57

>> Alfie Langanger really like just taking

01:30:59

the piss out of you. They're taking a

01:31:00

piss cuz I guess they got to

01:31:02

>> Did they Did it You can laugh about it

01:31:05

now. Did it Did it piss you off at the

01:31:06

time?

01:31:07

>> It I just like being part of the crew

01:31:09

and uh I play my number one thing with

01:31:12

footy is camaraderie. M

01:31:15

>> um and I love the physicality and stuff

01:31:17

but so

01:31:21

being a Christian sort of you know put

01:31:24

me on the outer

01:31:26

where I just like being with the uh you

01:31:29

know I don't naturally you don't want

01:31:31

that do you ideally so

01:31:34

>> um

01:31:36

it yeah I didn't like it but like I said

01:31:41

over time I felt like respect

01:31:44

was earned because

01:31:47

um I felt like it made me a better

01:31:48

player cuz I actually cared more about

01:31:51

my teammates instead of just it all up

01:31:55

you being about me and I bit and

01:31:57

scratched and fought my way through and

01:32:00

um

01:32:02

and then that was a massive thing that

01:32:05

changed but other people were down there

01:32:07

God was hardly thought about and it just

01:32:09

went and I started what you know the

01:32:12

Lord

01:32:13

submitting each day, you know, um what

01:32:17

he wanted in my life, uh and other

01:32:20

people became really important to me,

01:32:22

how they were going, you know, how could

01:32:24

I help and then myself. So that just

01:32:26

flipped

01:32:28

um the biggest test that, you know, one

01:32:31

of the biggest tests that happened

01:32:32

around that for me

01:32:34

>> when I uh my uncle came over when I was

01:32:37

16, 17, he's like, "You got to rep

01:32:40

games." My dad got him to chat me. You

01:32:42

got to um get the ball look after number

01:32:44

one. You know, when I had like this

01:32:47

mindset change, I'd started doing my run

01:32:50

and it was on my own and it was just

01:32:53

like I'm nothing's going to get in my

01:32:56

way. I'm getting these things done and

01:32:59

uh look after number one. You know what

01:33:01

I mean? And

01:33:04

um

01:33:05

when I become a Christian, I was 23 and

01:33:08

I had a couple years at the Broncos and

01:33:10

we achievement. I felt like my footy got

01:33:12

even better. I had more you I was

01:33:14

playing for more purpose and and I cared

01:33:17

about my mates and all this sort of

01:33:18

stuff. But then I went to rugby

01:33:22

and um

01:33:24

um I try to learn the game and stuff.

01:33:27

That was tough. But I came had a year

01:33:29

off, but I came back in 2003 and I

01:33:31

played for the All Blacks in the three

01:33:33

2003 World Cup and all that sort of

01:33:35

stuff. When I came back,

01:33:38

um, at the club there was Chris Jack

01:33:40

who's an outstanding all, you know, all

01:33:42

black. I think he played close to 70

01:33:44

test. I think he got New Zealand player

01:33:46

of the year. Norm Maxwell was just a

01:33:48

warrior. Um, you know, for, you know,

01:33:51

just a good tough guy. He'd been an all

01:33:53

black. And then there was me and um um

01:33:58

there was a guy Bryce Williams and uh

01:34:01

he's a younger guy and

01:34:04

it all been you know a lot of it been

01:34:05

fine being a Christian you know I'm

01:34:07

doing my thing but then I got to a space

01:34:10

where I'm trying to um come up through

01:34:14

ranks again I knew coming to the

01:34:16

crusaders I needed to be you in that

01:34:19

team each week getting as many games as

01:34:21

I could because I moved from number

01:34:22

eight to uh block cuz my aspiration was

01:34:26

to be an all black and to be a good

01:34:28

great All black. Um but to play in the

01:34:31

World Cup that year, I need to put in

01:34:33

performances.

01:34:34

>> So um I remember at the trainings I'm

01:34:38

just looking uh I had a training session

01:34:42

one day and um I talk about this in the

01:34:44

book as well. Uh

01:34:47

Bryce, the young guy was working on I

01:34:49

think it was kickoff. It might have been

01:34:50

something else. But I just looked at

01:34:53

him. And I thinking

01:34:55

I know what gets this done. And it's not

01:34:57

looking after some younger guy. It's

01:35:01

biting and scratching. Fought my way to

01:35:03

the top. I've done it before. I know. I

01:35:05

got I climbed to the top of the

01:35:06

mountain.

01:35:07

>> I know what works. It's not looking

01:35:09

after or caring about these guys.

01:35:13

And uh but then then I it was just me

01:35:16

standing at the end of training watching

01:35:18

guys these guys do extras. And then I

01:35:20

had this thought, hang on,

01:35:22

like you're doing this God's way, you

01:35:25

know.

01:35:26

>> Um,

01:35:28

you know, uh, that's

01:35:32

that's not

01:35:34

that's that's I guess how I made my way.

01:35:38

And when I I told you I got to the top

01:35:40

of the mountain, there's nothing there.

01:35:41

There's there's an emptiness and, you

01:35:44

know, um there was a lack of

01:35:46

fulfillment. And

01:35:48

I remember looking back at the uh Bryce

01:35:51

thinking

01:35:53

uh on going to, you know,

01:35:56

maybe I should go over and work with him

01:35:58

and maybe both we can both improve or

01:36:01

whatever. And it was real hard. I had

01:36:03

this like minute moment when I'm going

01:36:05

no

01:36:07

like an old me going that's not how we

01:36:10

get it done. Look after number one. And

01:36:13

cuz there's a ruthless side to me of

01:36:16

just, you know, and I'm trying to take

01:36:18

out, you know, I'm trying to come

01:36:20

through with the other two guys. You I

01:36:22

knew I had to try and um to be a

01:36:24

starter, I had to play better than um

01:36:27

Maxi and uh Chris Jack.

01:36:30

>> Anyway, get to a point where I go, "No,

01:36:33

you're doing this. You're doing it. Um

01:36:35

I'm doing it your way, Lord." I walked

01:36:37

over and uh I worked with uh Bryce,

01:36:40

whatever it was. Um I didn't do some

01:36:43

great helping or anything just just

01:36:45

doing some extras with him and uh that

01:36:48

was a game changer for me because

01:36:52

um before that I'd sort of been like a

01:36:54

slave to just looking after number one

01:36:57

>> and

01:36:58

it was like I said I'd become a

01:37:00

Christian. It was all fine for a couple

01:37:01

years. I'm I was the top of my game in

01:37:03

league but when I got tested when it

01:37:05

rubber hit the road hey I know what I

01:37:08

need to do to get there. Um but from

01:37:10

that time it really uh drove me to work

01:37:14

with guys you know Sam Wilox I think you

01:37:17

mentioned him before had an impact on

01:37:19

them or different guys

01:37:21

>> and the fulfillment like to to to get to

01:37:25

a space where like you almost get more

01:37:28

joy out of seeing someone else do well

01:37:31

you know than than they actually do. you

01:37:33

know, the the fulfillment of that, the

01:37:36

the the joy, the um the connection,

01:37:40

uh just so much more fulfilling. And um

01:37:44

and what I learned was that um you know,

01:37:48

you can you can achieve things too. And

01:37:50

um you know, I I got to represent the

01:37:53

All Blacks that year and um you know, I

01:37:56

was very proud to do that. So yeah.

01:37:59

>> Yeah. Thanks for sharing that stuff. Um,

01:38:02

yeah. What What did uh You must have

01:38:04

seen some wild stuff at Mad Monday

01:38:06

celebrations as a sober sober.

01:38:08

>> Question. I was doing it originally, but

01:38:10

yeah. Yeah, I I I mainly would just um I

01:38:14

you just not be around for that because

01:38:17

>> you just call it early. When it starts

01:38:18

to get messy, you're gone.

01:38:20

>> It was hard because um I'd almost be out

01:38:23

of my house and it was like uh almost

01:38:26

hear the city calling to me, you know.

01:38:28

I'm like going, "This is hard, you know.

01:38:31

Um,

01:38:33

I guess I had some pillars that helped

01:38:36

like I went to church on a Sunday

01:38:39

>> which was good, you know, but then you

01:38:40

got the week trying to, you know, keep

01:38:42

it on the straight and narrow, you know,

01:38:44

you got bad old habits. Took me three

01:38:46

years to get to come to terms with how I

01:38:48

was going to handle my alcohol. That was

01:38:50

to give up

01:38:51

>> for six years. I gave up for six years

01:38:53

because I I actually wasn't man enough

01:38:55

to handle it to treat it properly.

01:38:58

>> So, Oh, most people aren't.

01:39:00

>> Yeah. Well, I'm just only talking about

01:39:01

myself. I'm just being direct on myself.

01:39:04

I wasn't. So,

01:39:07

>> um, you know, that that took me 3 years.

01:39:09

There'd be many times in those three

01:39:11

years people looking, you know, oh, is

01:39:13

that a Christian? That guy, you know,

01:39:15

um, I was I was, you know, on my walking

01:39:19

my walk, you know. Um, but I had church

01:39:22

on Sunday. Um, I used to meet with a guy

01:39:24

on a Thursday uh, and and do a Bible

01:39:27

study and whatever. And I ended up um on

01:39:30

a Tuesday I actually fasted for the for

01:39:34

the day up until dinner. So pretty much

01:39:36

from the Monday evening through to the

01:39:38

Tuesday evening and I just it was a time

01:39:41

when I' i'd say prayers just for you

01:39:44

know people were sick or whatever. I

01:39:46

reckon that was I've done that to this

01:39:47

day. I do that to this day on a Tuesday.

01:39:50

And uh those those three sort of days in

01:39:53

the week of that uh the Bible study and

01:39:56

the Sunday was they were pillars in the

01:39:59

week to that were really good for me to

01:40:02

have structures in the week and I felt

01:40:04

like in that time of you know of

01:40:07

transitioning I guess um become you know

01:40:10

coming into my faith uh that that was a

01:40:12

strength for me. How how do you think um

01:40:15

how do you think your life would have

01:40:16

looked in your 20s, 30s, or even 40s if

01:40:18

you hadn't reconnected with your

01:40:20

religion?

01:40:23

>> Don't know if I would have, you know, I

01:40:26

when I I remember thinking, how am I

01:40:28

ever going to marry someone, you know? M

01:40:33

yeah it's sort of hard to sort of talk

01:40:36

about it but um yeah pretty much I

01:40:40

didn't know how I'd ever be faithful to

01:40:42

a woman or um

01:40:44

>> yeah I used to go pretty hard so um how

01:40:49

would that have worked you know don't

01:40:51

know if it would have worked great you

01:40:53

know you're away a lot you know up to

01:40:55

four months a year um with the all

01:40:57

blacks and all that sort of stuff and

01:40:59

>> when there's temptation and opportunity

01:41:01

like it, you know,

01:41:03

>> and just ego, you know. Um

01:41:07

maybe just a massive [ __ ] you know.

01:41:09

I don't know. Um I uh yeah, I I'm just

01:41:16

grateful that uh you know, that God uh

01:41:19

you know, in his mercy, you know, um got

01:41:23

me to that space and um you know, and

01:41:26

and that's been the walk I've had. And

01:41:28

it hasn't been all rosy. It's been a a

01:41:31

hard, you know, you have your ups and

01:41:33

downs like everyone and but I know

01:41:35

there's purpose to to to my life and and

01:41:39

uh and and he's my strength.

01:41:42

>> Where did you meet Maryanne? You've been

01:41:44

married for like 25 years now or

01:41:45

something. E

01:41:46

>> 23. Yeah.

01:41:46

>> 23 years.

01:41:47

>> Yeah. 24 this year. So

01:41:49

>> I suppose she came into your life when

01:41:50

when the the timing is everything with

01:41:52

these things, isn't it?

01:41:53

>> Massive.

01:41:53

>> Yeah.

01:41:53

>> Because if she'd come early, I would

01:41:55

have ruined it.

01:41:56

>> Yeah.

01:41:56

>> So she wasn't a Broncos groupy. No, she

01:41:59

was a she's a like a from her brothers

01:42:02

played rugby in Sydney.

01:42:04

>> Yeah,

01:42:04

>> it's pretty crazy. You know, you think

01:42:06

how do how do how do we get together?

01:42:08

Her mom came from Malta after World War

01:42:10

II. She's born in Malta, just under

01:42:13

Italy there. You know that that over

01:42:15

there. Um and my family's in New

01:42:18

Zealand. You know, she grows up in

01:42:21

Sydney. I grow up in Brisbane. she moves

01:42:24

up um because it's warmer and as a young

01:42:27

adult and you know we just so happen to

01:42:30

meet in a pub and uh I'm sober cuz I'm

01:42:33

I'm a different you know uh in a

01:42:35

different space and she she wasn't a big

01:42:38

drink or anything and over a period of

01:42:40

time it wasn't like mobile phones and

01:42:42

stuff back then I'd bump into her and um

01:42:45

we I just talked to her whatever and got

01:42:48

to six months or so was like hey um I

01:42:51

like this girl she you know and

01:42:53

uh you know and it it was uh yeah um it

01:42:59

was it's crazy how that plays out though

01:43:01

you know and um uh four kids later and

01:43:06

uh 23 years she she's my I say this to

01:43:08

anyone but she's my best friend you know

01:43:10

we uh we love um we're just great mates

01:43:15

and uh yeah

01:43:17

>> awesome

01:43:18

>> I'm so happy for you mate.

01:43:20

>> Yeah. Yeah.

01:43:20

>> It's really cool.

01:43:21

>> I appreciate that. Yeah,

01:43:23

>> this is Well, we've been going for an

01:43:25

hour 40. We'll get back to some more

01:43:26

black stuff, eh?

01:43:27

>> Yeah, I can shorten my answers. I

01:43:29

probably

01:43:30

on too long,

01:43:31

>> mate. I'm I'm hanging off every word

01:43:32

you're saying. It's It's really cool.

01:43:33

It's like getting getting um an

01:43:35

interview on some different stuff. And

01:43:36

>> do you do you know what's good? Uh Tom,

01:43:39

that you're asking a lot of um you

01:43:41

haven't been asked a lot of these

01:43:42

questions. So, it's it's been really

01:43:45

cool um talking. Well, there I mean

01:43:47

there's a lot that we could we could

01:43:48

talk about, but I feel like um I mean

01:43:51

it's almost the stuff of legends now how

01:43:53

how lazy you were as a kid.

01:43:56

I heard a few other podcasts you've been

01:43:57

on, so I thought I want to go in a bit

01:43:58

of a different direction.

01:43:59

>> Yeah, it's cool, mate.

01:44:00

>> Um Oh, thanks heaps. Uh so, um yeah, we

01:44:04

talked before about you coming playing

01:44:05

rugby and just feeling like a like a

01:44:07

like a a 14 15 year old kid like you had

01:44:10

no idea what you were doing. You the

01:44:11

nickname credit card. Um but then that

01:44:14

first season with the Crusaders went

01:44:16

well and at the end of year you were

01:44:17

selected for the All Blacks. I remember

01:44:20

I remember this happening at the time.

01:44:21

So this was 2001.

01:44:23

>> Yeah.

01:44:24

>> And I remember it being a big I was in

01:44:26

commercial radio at the time and I

01:44:27

remember it being a big thing and people

01:44:30

were like, you know, what's this guy

01:44:31

doing disrespecting the jersey? And you

01:44:33

sort of elaborate on this in the book.

01:44:34

>> Yeah.

01:44:35

>> So for anyone that has no idea what

01:44:37

we're talking about or can't remember or

01:44:38

wasn't born at that time, what happened?

01:44:42

>> Yeah. Well, I um um got selected. I'd

01:44:46

come over to rugby to um to try and play

01:44:51

rugby union. It had gone professional.

01:44:53

You could do that. You didn't used to be

01:44:55

able to do it. And

01:44:57

>> yeah, I um signed a one-year contract

01:45:01

with an option of two more. Do you know

01:45:04

what I mean? So, it wasn't like a

01:45:05

three-year contract. It's one year

01:45:06

contract with an option of two more.

01:45:09

basically um um when I gone over to New

01:45:14

Zealand that first the super rugby

01:45:16

season I they put me at number eight and

01:45:19

all these challenges are just culturally

01:45:21

it was different trying to learn rugby

01:45:24

um with set piece all the stuff was

01:45:26

completely different to league and but

01:45:29

at the end of that I um you know I

01:45:32

wasn't enjoying it I had sort of you I

01:45:36

had three questions when I went there do

01:45:37

I like rugby am I any good at it and do

01:45:39

I like living in New Zealand? You know,

01:45:41

all three were big no. And had a bit of

01:45:44

a rev up chat with my brother when I

01:45:46

went back to Australia. Just basically

01:45:48

said, give it your with what's remaining

01:45:51

of the year. Give it your best and then

01:45:53

you can walk away. You had a crack and

01:45:56

maybe it just wasn't meant to be, you

01:45:58

know.

01:46:00

And uh I went back in NBC. They moved me

01:46:02

to lock and um I started to you know uh

01:46:07

I started to become

01:46:10

just in a small way instinctive in the

01:46:12

game and started to be able to play it

01:46:14

you know and um my game improved and

01:46:18

um um I was starting to like it a bit

01:46:23

more. I was uh um you know I felt like I

01:46:28

was getting a little bit better and I

01:46:30

was getting a bit more used to New

01:46:31

Zealand but

01:46:33

the same time I Maryanne uh lived in

01:46:37

Brisbane you know as well and at the

01:46:39

same time like I said it took me 3 years

01:46:42

to get to come to terms how I was going

01:46:45

to handle alcohol. I was it was like a

01:46:48

period I became a Christian I was 23 but

01:46:50

like getting my house in order as well.

01:46:52

Do you know what I mean? Um,

01:46:55

so

01:46:57

basically, uh, I I pretty much the word

01:47:01

was I was going to be selected. I sort

01:47:03

of put it out there that, um, you know,

01:47:06

I'd like to

01:47:08

go home. Yeah. It been a big solid year.

01:47:11

Um, and just, you know, think about

01:47:14

things, what what I was going to do,

01:47:15

whatever. And, yeah, I got selected and

01:47:18

>> by John Mitchell and Robbie Deans.

01:47:20

>> Yeah. which I I understand I had

01:47:22

potential in 2003 build up all that sort

01:47:25

of stuff but just made a little bit

01:47:27

awkward you could say. And um

01:47:30

>> did you did you not think he belonged

01:47:32

there? Was it imposter syndrome?

01:47:34

>> No. Um you know players get picked on

01:47:38

potential for for representative footy

01:47:40

and teams. So that's good thinking if

01:47:43

you think about it two years out from a

01:47:45

World Cup and I was a you know I was

01:47:48

starting to show something you know so

01:47:50

>> I suppose they knew you had big game

01:47:52

experience and

01:47:53

>> Yeah. Yeah. And you know that was my

01:47:55

like I said Wes and then um the Broncos

01:47:59

that's eight years so it's my ninth year

01:48:00

as a pro. um some guys that's their

01:48:02

career. So, you know, I'm experienced

01:48:05

all that sort of stuff, but um if I had

01:48:09

um you know, I wasn't sure about my

01:48:13

future, you know, and taking all those

01:48:16

things to account like I I said before

01:48:17

around the rugby around, you know,

01:48:19

Marian, around just me, you know, I sort

01:48:22

of felt if I go on that tour, um take

01:48:26

the black jersey and then then I say,

01:48:28

"Yeah, I'm not thanks. I've got my three

01:48:32

souvenir.

01:48:33

>> Yeah. Yeah. That that's not going down

01:48:36

well. So,

01:48:38

um that that's pretty much basically

01:48:42

where it's at. And I went home I

01:48:43

actually had a ended up having a full

01:48:45

year off from all sport, like a half

01:48:47

time break in my career out of 22 years.

01:48:50

That's like my 10th year. It's almost

01:48:52

like perfectly put in the middle where I

01:48:54

had a year.

01:48:55

>> And um you know, me and Marian got

01:48:58

married later that year. We traveled,

01:49:00

did all these things.

01:49:02

Um, you know, with with Maryanne being

01:49:06

marrying her, you know, I felt my house

01:49:09

was, you know, in order um to where I

01:49:12

want it to be under God. And uh um and

01:49:17

then it was about uh I put in this

01:49:19

effort. I got to a space where you

01:49:22

there's opportunity to to get reward for

01:49:24

the effort um that had been put in.

01:49:28

Uh I could have just gone back to

01:49:29

league, but I wanted to to see to

01:49:32

realize that uh reward. Um and that's

01:49:36

when I went back to uh the Crusaders in

01:49:40

2003 and yeah, played on through to

01:49:43

winning uh sorry, not being part of a

01:49:45

World Cup. So yeah.

01:49:48

>> What was the backlash like at the time?

01:49:50

Was that intense?

01:49:51

>> Heavy duty.

01:49:52

>> Yeah. Was it?

01:49:53

>> Yeah. We did Did it Who did you hear

01:49:55

from in the Was was Darren Shand the All

01:49:56

Black manager at the time?

01:49:58

>> No, it was um I think

01:49:59

>> Andrew the Colonel Colonel. Yeah.

01:50:02

>> Yeah. The old um SES guy. Cuddles.

01:50:04

Captain Cuddles. They called him cuz he

01:50:06

gave the players a cuddle when they came

01:50:07

off the field.

01:50:08

>> He was really good, mate. I g I gave him

01:50:11

a call and just said, "Look,

01:50:13

>> you know, I'm not sure about my future

01:50:15

in the game, so I'm going to stand

01:50:18

down." And it's not easy to do this but

01:50:21

um that's what I feel I should do and uh

01:50:25

he was really good around it and

01:50:28

um you know

01:50:30

>> yeah it was

01:50:31

>> you say it's intense now and this is

01:50:33

quarter of a century later. There's a

01:50:34

lot of hate that came just the feeling

01:50:37

of

01:50:38

>> um yeah that's not taken too well is it

01:50:42

at the time

01:50:43

>> and you know people thinking you know oh

01:50:48

who's this guy league guy coming here

01:50:50

you know and the black jersey and all

01:50:52

that sort of stuff I guess for me yeah

01:50:55

at that time people would have

01:50:57

questioned what it meant to me and and

01:51:00

all this sort of stuff and the thing

01:51:02

that felt good was by the time I'd

01:51:05

finished game number 16 and 21 to 11,

01:51:07

everyone knew what it meant to me. Um,

01:51:11

and to this day I, you know, um,

01:51:14

everyone I felt like I showed what it

01:51:18

meant to me to to represent my country

01:51:20

of birth, to represent the All Blacks.

01:51:22

And,

01:51:24

>> um, you know, uh, yeah. Yeah, that was

01:51:28

an interesting time. And, you know, I

01:51:31

think it was the right decision. M

01:51:33

>> yeah. So your um All Black debut that

01:51:35

was um in Hamilton, same day as Dan

01:51:37

Carter.

01:51:38

>> Yeah.

01:51:38

>> Um yeah. What were your big what were

01:51:40

the big insights that you got when you

01:51:42

first made the All Blacks proper and got

01:51:43

into that sort of squad environment um

01:51:45

between like what the Broncos were doing

01:51:47

at the peak of their powers and the All

01:51:49

Blacks?

01:51:51

>> Just uh just the the the culture of it

01:51:55

all um the the winners and that's the

01:51:58

All Blacks. You got to understand that

01:52:01

you put the jersey on, it's like a

01:52:03

contract. Your job's to win.

01:52:05

And um and that's not a joke.

01:52:08

>> Well, we've discovered that recently.

01:52:10

74% is not good enough.

01:52:12

>> Yeah. So um so yeah, the competitiveness

01:52:17

um the history of the All Blacks, the

01:52:20

most winning team in world sport, I

01:52:22

think um um over a long period of time.

01:52:25

So, um it was special to be in there and

01:52:30

you're amongst the best and you you have

01:52:34

great coaches and you are um you know

01:52:38

it's that that excellence that you're

01:52:41

trying to you know you don't have the

01:52:44

All Blacks don't have a name like that

01:52:45

of just been mediocre. They do things

01:52:48

exceptionally well and um in the All

01:52:52

Blacks we talk about just your time in

01:52:53

the jersey. I'm I was late in the piece.

01:52:56

There been a hundred years of that guys

01:52:58

showing me and all you know what what it

01:53:02

requires in that jersey. I was grateful

01:53:05

for the what they had shown and now I'm

01:53:08

go I look to uh like as a custodian sort

01:53:11

of thing my time I will add to this

01:53:15

hopefully leave in a better place or at

01:53:17

least you know how I found it. So,

01:53:20

>> same with the Broncos. We were very

01:53:22

proud uh to represent uh we almost like

01:53:25

represented the state a bit the Broncos

01:53:27

in the early days and um you know there

01:53:30

was a I always felt there was a bit of a

01:53:32

weight to the jersey of um a

01:53:36

responsibility really and the same with

01:53:38

the All Blacks um um to

01:53:43

you know to give your best effort and um

01:53:46

um

01:53:48

you know appreciate your time uh in that

01:53:52

environment, in that jersey. Um it means

01:53:56

so much to New New Zealand.

01:53:58

>> Have you got Have you got like a a man

01:54:01

cave at home or a games room or some

01:54:03

jerseys hung up?

01:54:05

>> What have you got?

01:54:06

>> I don't. No.

01:54:06

>> Yeah. What where is everything? The

01:54:08

rings, the medals,

01:54:09

>> plastic bag somewhere. But the reason I

01:54:12

do that sometimes I've thought about um

01:54:16

putting stuff up and that I don't have

01:54:18

anything up. Not a single thing. And

01:54:20

I've got all this stuff. I've got like

01:54:22

these big frame uh photos and all this

01:54:25

sort of stuff. And um my mindset is sort

01:54:30

of like if someone comes into my house

01:54:32

because I have had a profile and been

01:54:34

that I sort of like um you know

01:54:38

obviously there's people who know me and

01:54:41

whatever but say someone who doesn't

01:54:42

know me coming to my house I like the

01:54:44

chance of just getting to you know they

01:54:46

just

01:54:48

>> no bread.

01:54:48

>> Yeah. M

01:54:50

>> not be forced. And this to the people

01:54:53

who put their stuff up, I reckon it's

01:54:55

awesome. I'm just saying for me

01:54:56

personally,

01:54:58

>> I just if someone comes in my house, I

01:54:59

don't want to force, you know, the the

01:55:03

um all that stuff, you know. I just want

01:55:06

them to you I'm uh you're just a do guy

01:55:09

and like you said, probably you said it

01:55:11

best. It's just Brad, you know, and my

01:55:13

wife Maryanne and welcome to our home

01:55:15

and you know, um, so yeah, not not have

01:55:20

that sort of Yeah. there. That's why I

01:55:22

do that. It's crazy cuz there's like

01:55:24

Hank Cup medal, there's World Cup

01:55:27

medals, there's and every now I got all

01:55:30

these rings, you know, where you win a

01:55:31

premiership ring in league and

01:55:34

like once in blue moon, it's fun to pull

01:55:36

it out and um have a look at it. So

01:55:39

yeah, end of a day though, it's not

01:55:41

going to keep me company. It's not it's

01:55:43

not like it's not um

01:55:46

>> you know what I mean? Like it is it's

01:55:47

awesome we achieve all those things, but

01:55:49

um uh

01:55:52

we won in 211, 215, 219, 223. We're

01:55:56

about to go into our fourth one. Bang,

01:55:58

bang, bang. Moves on, you know. Won my

01:56:01

first grand final for the Bronx in 97.

01:56:04

>> That's like what's that like?

01:56:06

>> It's almost 30 years ago. 29 years ago.

01:56:08

>> Yeah. Bang. Um, the stuff that's more

01:56:12

important than just people I you know.

01:56:15

Yeah.

01:56:16

>> Who who are you still who would you say

01:56:18

you're still friends with in terms of

01:56:20

players? Like people that you catch up

01:56:21

with on a regular basis? It gets harder

01:56:23

when you get older. Your family and your

01:56:25

own sort of community

01:56:26

>> all the time. Yeah. You're busy. Four

01:56:28

kids and uh you're working and stuff.

01:56:31

I I just um a lot of them is you know

01:56:34

when you catch up with people and it's

01:56:36

like you haven't seen them in ages but

01:56:40

it's straight away it's really good you

01:56:42

know um

01:56:44

>> so a lot of guys like that you know

01:56:46

friends and um but all the footy guys um

01:56:51

>> yeah but I I don't get to see them too

01:56:53

much because I'm in like with New

01:56:55

Zealand they have all black reunions and

01:56:58

they have these things I'm in Brisbane

01:57:00

you know what I M

01:57:01

>> um I'm lucky to go to Broncos things and

01:57:03

I'm a life member there, you know. I

01:57:05

played 10 years and

01:57:07

>> um

01:57:09

because you are busy, you know, and

01:57:13

>> and I've always had this part of me

01:57:15

where I don't like asking for anything

01:57:16

either and I um I feel like I have my

01:57:20

time, you know, at the Broncos that's

01:57:22

nearby me. I don't I'm not that guy that

01:57:24

sort of goes down and, you know, I I'm

01:57:27

very supportive though. I'm supportive,

01:57:29

you know. So yeah,

01:57:31

>> well, next time there's an All Blacks

01:57:32

reunion here, you're going to be in big

01:57:33

trouble tr trouble. They're going to be

01:57:34

like, "Well, you came over to New

01:57:35

Zealand to do Dom's podcast."

01:57:39

>> There you go.

01:57:40

>> What was um what was some of the coolest

01:57:42

uh nonrugby related experiences of um

01:57:46

being an All Black? Like I I know you

01:57:47

got to meet the queen.

01:57:48

>> That was cool. Yeah.

01:57:49

>> Yeah. Was it?

01:57:50

>> Yeah. I learned how to say um they they

01:57:53

sort of said to us um the queen will

01:57:55

walk around and um her you say mom

01:58:01

not ma'am

01:58:03

>> and not mom as in your mom but mom it's

01:58:07

like it's funny it's so funny doing it

01:58:10

and uh but she is a sweet uh old old

01:58:13

lady and she was she was tiny next to me

01:58:16

and um but uh yeah I b down and to mom.

01:58:20

Nice. You basically It was nice to have

01:58:23

a little chat to her. But um um yeah,

01:58:26

all those things are cool.

01:58:28

>> That's it's wild. Hey, like this uh this

01:58:30

this kid from Mosgirl meeting meeting

01:58:32

the queen at the palace. It's crazy.

01:58:34

>> Yeah. But um the cool things Dolman's

01:58:38

playing at those stadiums, the stadiums

01:58:40

are awesome.

01:58:41

>> That was my It was always my favorite

01:58:42

time of year was the November series

01:58:45

playing at Croak Park. That was a place

01:58:47

that was really pretty sacred to the

01:58:49

Irish. That's they don't actually play.

01:58:51

It's only Irish sport they play there,

01:58:53

but they were rebuilding. I think they

01:58:56

called Aviva now or something. And so

01:58:58

they use Croak Park 78 75 or 80,000

01:59:02

people. Um and uh you know Twickingham

01:59:06

you know Millennium

01:59:08

it was so noisy they singing you know

01:59:10

they do all their singing Wales. I

01:59:12

remember being in a scrum and I couldn't

01:59:13

hear the saying to the referee, I need

01:59:15

you to shout cuz I'd say set and bang,

01:59:18

you know. Um, but you know, you got

01:59:20

tape, you're in you're in there like

01:59:22

this and uh those are Yeah, that they're

01:59:26

pretty cool. the uh you sort of pinch

01:59:30

yourself there where you um I was at

01:59:32

Suetto Stadium uh sorry Nelson Medalis

01:59:36

Stadium in Suetto 94,000 uh South

01:59:40

Africans singing their national anthem

01:59:42

which is an awesome one. You like their

01:59:44

anthem? Have you heard their Yeah, it's

01:59:46

a really cool anthem. Uh

01:59:49

>> and I remember it was to win a third

01:59:51

test in a row and it was John Schmidt's

01:59:54

100th game. I remember standing there

01:59:57

when before a test like I don't really

02:00:00

want people touching me like my job is

02:00:02

to be physical, you know, send physical

02:00:05

messages and uh I've got real I guess

02:00:08

bad intentions, you know what I mean?

02:00:10

Like I talk about boxing, you know, I'm

02:00:12

there to uh be physical. So, you're

02:00:14

minutes away from getting amongst it and

02:00:17

there's preggain stuff. But I mean, you

02:00:19

know, like I said, respect the anthem,

02:00:21

respect the hucker.

02:00:23

But, um, they're singing their anthem

02:00:25

and I'm like standing there like I'm

02:00:27

just thinking, you know, it's a

02:00:30

heavyweight title fight.

02:00:31

>> Crush them.

02:00:32

>> I'm here to hit bodies, you know? I'm

02:00:34

here to that's my job at the whole team

02:00:38

as a tight head lock as a my job is to I

02:00:42

felt my job is to assert authority, you

02:00:44

know. So, so I'm standing there um on,

02:00:48

you know, on edge and uh I didn't really

02:00:51

I always stand on the end. I liked being

02:00:54

down there cuz I um during their one I

02:00:57

wasn't stuck in between guys. I don't

02:00:59

really want people all over me. I'm in a

02:01:01

in a mood and a zone. And um but anyway,

02:01:05

they sing their anthem 94,000. Awesome

02:01:07

anthem. I remember just I had to smile.

02:01:10

And um I know that probably doesn't

02:01:12

sound like much, but I don't smile. when

02:01:15

I'm in that sort of mood. And um it was

02:01:18

just like I remember standing just

02:01:20

going, "How good is this?" 94,000.

02:01:26

I'm a terrible singer, but um um they it

02:01:31

was just so cool to to experience um

02:01:35

them everyone just loving that uh moment

02:01:37

and then and then we got into bashing

02:01:39

each other.

02:01:41

Does after after h having this um long

02:01:44

playing career with all these like

02:01:46

exhilarating highs, does does life seem

02:01:48

like like bor boring now or it's it's

02:01:53

like you know Robbie Dean said uh um

02:01:56

coaching is the next best thing after

02:01:58

playing. So um now I'm not coaching

02:02:02

super rugby, I'm coaching first 15 and

02:02:04

doing a few consultant things here and

02:02:06

there, you know, Malta and different

02:02:08

things. They're fun in their own way,

02:02:10

you know, but um

02:02:13

nothing beats, you know, um you know,

02:02:16

playing Twickingham or, you know, spring

02:02:19

box test at Loftus or, you know, all

02:02:21

that sort of stuff. So you you just

02:02:23

enjoy those memories and you had your

02:02:25

time and uh you contributed and you got

02:02:29

amongst it that you know added hopefully

02:02:31

to the legacy and and you're happy for

02:02:34

the guys doing their stuff now you know

02:02:37

but it's just a different time in your

02:02:38

life and um

02:02:41

far out um you know being able to have

02:02:44

four kids um

02:02:47

seeing them you know I've got a son

02:02:49

that's married uh you know you got

02:02:51

different things that in your life and

02:02:54

different purposes, you know, that that

02:02:57

um that's are so rewarding.

02:03:01

>> Oh, that's awesome. What What about

02:03:03

masculinity? What what does masculinity

02:03:05

mean to you now? Suppose when you were

02:03:06

playing it was um what you what was the

02:03:08

phrase you used before? Like crushing

02:03:09

bodies or something.

02:03:10

>> Sending physical messages or Yeah,

02:03:13

that's the polite way.

02:03:15

>> But um basically being a thug.

02:03:17

But um yeah um I I you know I there's

02:03:22

plenty of masculinity in my house mate.

02:03:24

Yeah. Three sons. Um one's in the

02:03:27

military now. I think I said that

02:03:28

before.

02:03:30

>> Um

02:03:30

>> does he make his beard better than you?

02:03:32

>> Yeah, he probably does. I imagine. But

02:03:34

um um we have a lot of banter. There's a

02:03:38

lot of testosterone. And uh um

02:03:42

>> does that sort of scratch the itch? like

02:03:44

it feels like you've got this own sort

02:03:46

of team.

02:03:47

>> It's just the bond that we have with

02:03:49

Thorns and that's how we roll. Like I

02:03:50

said, my dad and me wrestled. I never

02:03:53

wrestled with my brother because um uh

02:03:56

and my dad didn't either cuz um he the

02:04:00

old glazed eyes would come over the

02:04:02

redness.

02:04:03

>> Yeah. Me and my dad could always keep

02:04:05

it, you know, it would be kept good. But

02:04:07

with the big guy, he couldn't be

02:04:10

trusted.

02:04:12

He'll probably uh hate me for saying

02:04:13

that, but yeah, he's he he would slitch

02:04:17

this which would uh so but yeah, no,

02:04:20

there's plenty of uh we got our gym and

02:04:23

I brought the boys back uh a year or so

02:04:25

ago. We went on a hunting trip uh down

02:04:29

where I grew up and around Benner Burn

02:04:31

and my uh my cousin is a professional.

02:04:34

Um

02:04:36

>> we have great time, the boys and and my

02:04:38

daughter and my wife. Uh there's another

02:04:41

couple of yarns in the book um that I

02:04:43

really love. Um

02:04:46

again, it's like I don't know why you

02:04:47

put this one in there. The one about you

02:04:49

um snapping at uh the professor Sir

02:04:51

Wayne Smith.

02:04:52

>> Yeah. Yeah.

02:04:53

>> So he asked you this was during the um

02:04:54

2011 Rugby World Cup. He asked you to do

02:04:57

some extra training. You told him to.

02:04:58

>> That that wasn't during the World Cup.

02:05:00

That was grand that was final week.

02:05:02

>> Yeah. So that's the grand final grand

02:05:04

finals. So yeah. So he wanted me to do

02:05:08

some new drill thing that helped the

02:05:10

backs and like are you crazy mate?

02:05:13

>> Did you swear? Do you ever swear?

02:05:14

>> Did you swear?

02:05:15

>> Yeah. Heck yeah. Yeah. The swearing's

02:05:18

something I battle with. You know, I

02:05:20

prefer not to use

02:05:22

>> one part of the house that's not in

02:05:23

order.

02:05:23

>> Yeah. My wife is say, "Come on." But um

02:05:26

yeah, you've always got work on. But

02:05:28

yeah, I was like, you know, I talked

02:05:30

about before routine. So I got a

02:05:32

routine. Me and Kevy do this on a

02:05:34

Thursday. We sign off on our physicality

02:05:37

that we we're going to bring on um

02:05:39

Saturday. So we me and Kevy um we do

02:05:44

tackles and we're hitting each other

02:05:46

hard with a pad and then we do uh four

02:05:49

breakdown hits flying in, you know, and

02:05:52

try and throw each other off. And Kevy

02:05:55

um is really I liked cuz he's a great

02:05:58

guy being a shorter guy too forced me to

02:06:01

get low and all that sort of stuff.

02:06:03

Yeah, Smithy is like trying to call me

02:06:06

over for some new thing he wants to do.

02:06:09

It's like Thursday. I'm like, "What are

02:06:11

you freaking What are you thinking,

02:06:14

mate?" Yeah. So, I was I was uh I was

02:06:17

like, "Yeah, my language wasn't good.

02:06:21

I'm there to get a job done. Like, this

02:06:23

is business time." Like 3 weeks out when

02:06:25

we got the quarterfinals, this the round

02:06:27

rob I didn't wasn't interested to be

02:06:30

honest, apart from the build. That's

02:06:32

when you see guys have big highlights

02:06:34

packages and you beat Japan, you know,

02:06:36

you beat these lower teams and there's

02:06:38

all these great tries and it's all it's

02:06:40

fantasy world, you know, it's not the

02:06:43

real stuff's coming quarter semi and

02:06:45

final three grand finals you got to w

02:06:48

you got to earn the right to make the

02:06:49

semi, earn the right to make the the

02:06:51

final. So yeah, you get uh so shutters

02:06:55

come down for me once it comes to the

02:06:57

quarterfinal start of that week almost

02:07:00

like it's relief because now there's

02:07:02

something on the line and that's what

02:07:04

makes me tick. I don't suit the no you

02:07:07

know the the round robin there's no sort

02:07:10

of um nothing to be lost or won. Now I'm

02:07:15

in my world of with the stuff on the

02:07:18

line. So I'm preparing and I was like in

02:07:21

a zone and so yeah you can imagine

02:07:24

having told you all that you know coming

02:07:26

to like the Thursday before or Friday

02:07:29

whatever it was before we playing the

02:07:31

French in a World Cup final after not

02:07:34

you know we hadn't won it in 24 years

02:07:36

all this sort of stuff my last test on

02:07:37

36

02:07:39

I didn't take that well yeah

02:07:42

>> I'm thinking what mate you know we're

02:07:44

good enough mate what are you thinking

02:07:48

Did you

02:07:48

>> I'm not interested in your your footwork

02:07:51

thing for your backs or whatever. I'm

02:07:52

not I don't I'm not interested. Get out

02:07:55

of my face with that. I don't want to

02:07:57

know about you know that's how I felt.

02:08:00

>> Did you feel bad about it later or No,

02:08:03

>> no,

02:08:06

no. And that's why it says that Smithy

02:08:09

wrote in the book he he goes um you know

02:08:12

he he gets it. I would still say to this

02:08:15

day what were you thinking? What you

02:08:17

thinking? Come on, man. He's the He's

02:08:20

the professor. He should know better

02:08:22

than that.

02:08:22

>> Um, another great yarn in the book.

02:08:24

>> Get some other Get some other nonplaying

02:08:27

23 guy to do that. Why are you asking

02:08:30

me?

02:08:31

>> You get Steven Donald. Maybe he can lose

02:08:33

a couple of kilos before the final.

02:08:35

>> Steve was did a great job. Yeah.

02:08:37

>> Yeah. Um, you the other great I really

02:08:39

like is um you It's such like an old man

02:08:42

injury during co Crusaders playing a

02:08:44

game in Nelson. you you go for a wander

02:08:47

around in jandles looking for a a rugby

02:08:49

league magazine in a dairy and you

02:08:51

injure yourself just from what happens.

02:08:54

>> I um I used to like getting when I was

02:08:56

in Australia I used to like getting

02:08:58

rugby news when I get on a plane and we

02:09:00

go down and play in Sydney cuz I I like

02:09:02

my rugby when I was in New Zealand I'd

02:09:04

get the rugby league week. when I was in

02:09:06

Nelson another time there was a there

02:09:08

was like a news agents. I sort of

02:09:11

remembered I was there some place and I

02:09:13

went to go and get my it was on game day

02:09:16

um rugby league week cuz I want to look

02:09:18

at it and I I thought it's not too many

02:09:22

streets too far away. I just usually I

02:09:25

put shoes on like I you know and I was

02:09:28

um what was I I was 36 years old so you

02:09:32

got to get more and more diligent around

02:09:34

your body and I was you're always real

02:09:37

professional around all my preparation

02:09:39

and that but I just wore a thong. It's

02:09:41

not going to be too much of a walk going

02:09:43

and get it. But I went and wasn't there

02:09:46

and then I started walking around

02:09:48

Nelson. I end up walking for like 45 to

02:09:51

an hour, probably an hour in thongs and

02:09:55

um um I reckon that it was on concrete

02:09:59

and uh I think that that added up to me

02:10:02

pinging my calf and and uh it was a

02:10:06

scrum and it was it was actually the

02:10:08

best thing that happened to me because

02:10:10

it uh it gave me a break. I hadn't been

02:10:13

injured. I've been playing a lot of

02:10:15

games each year and it gave me a

02:10:18

freshener up that um helped me to um you

02:10:24

know uh finish that Crusaders season you

02:10:27

know better and and then go into the

02:10:30

World Cup year. So that was actually a

02:10:32

blessing cuz um um I was off to uh

02:10:37

Africa. Uh the next day they went off to

02:10:39

Africa and I didn't go

02:10:41

>> and uh I'd just done a lot of footy over

02:10:45

a lot of the years and uh I'd wanted to

02:10:48

have a bit more of a break that year,

02:10:50

but Richie had a his foot was been an

02:10:52

issue the year before it was again

02:10:55

>> and uh Sam Wallock got injured. I was

02:10:58

supposed to not go to Africa and all of

02:10:59

a sudden I was now I'm going and all

02:11:01

this sort of stuff. It was a it was a

02:11:02

blessing.

02:11:04

>> It's just a crazy story to think this

02:11:06

this guy that's um out there on the

02:11:08

field like trying to just crush people's

02:11:10

souls. Um

02:11:13

gets owned by a footpath in Nelson while

02:11:15

looking for a rugby rugby league

02:11:17

magazine in a dairy.

02:11:18

>> I was 30 on myself. Um yeah, it just

02:11:21

shows you. But yeah, I guess you're 36

02:11:23

years old and you don't get that many 36

02:11:26

year olds, you know, playing at that

02:11:28

level.

02:11:28

>> Yeah, true.

02:11:29

>> And you have to be diligent and, you

02:11:31

know, cuz your end of the day, your

02:11:33

body's aging.

02:11:34

>> Yeah.

02:11:36

>> When do you feel um truly at peace or

02:11:38

truly happy these days?

02:11:41

>> Um I feel pretty pretty good, you know.

02:11:45

Um just fortunate. Uh my faith is number

02:11:49

one. So that that brings that gives me

02:11:51

peace. And it's easy to say, oh, you

02:11:55

know, at home on a nice Sunday, it

02:11:57

brings you peace. I mean, it brings me

02:11:59

peace and good times and not so good

02:12:02

times. You know what I mean?

02:12:04

uh having my wife and my kids. Um uh

02:12:08

it's just an it's you just uh what a

02:12:12

privilege to be able to, you know, to

02:12:14

have that and to to share life with them

02:12:17

and

02:12:18

and to have some purpose around the work

02:12:21

you do. I I coached First 15 at one of

02:12:23

the elite private schools at BBC and um

02:12:27

just the enjoyment of those those kit

02:12:30

lads. Um just a great game of rugby.

02:12:33

Rugby is a character game. It's a self,

02:12:35

it's a, you know, you have to play, it's

02:12:38

a team sport and you have to um uh the

02:12:42

team's over bigger than the individual

02:12:45

>> for it to function well. You have to

02:12:47

put, you know, so all those good

02:12:49

qualities you're pumping into those

02:12:51

young guys and um you know, so there's

02:12:55

plenty to be thankful for and um you

02:12:58

know, generally feel in a pretty good

02:13:00

space, mate. Yeah. Do you still have any

02:13:03

coaching aspirations?

02:13:06

>> Uh I when I finish with the Reds um

02:13:10

>> it's sort of not like league where you

02:13:12

know if you finish with Manley you've

02:13:14

got the Roosters, the Sharks, the

02:13:17

Panthers.

02:13:18

>> Yeah you I mean West Tigers.

02:13:20

>> You finish coaching the Queensland Reds,

02:13:23

you got to leave the state if you're

02:13:24

going to

02:13:26

>> coach or the C leave the country at that

02:13:28

level. Do you know what I mean? titles.

02:13:31

>> I I

02:13:34

league I haven't been involved in since

02:13:36

2007, but to to

02:13:39

um I I wanted my kids to, you know, we

02:13:44

brought them back for stability and to

02:13:46

have that Aussie upbringing and my

02:13:48

daughter finishes her final year high

02:13:50

school this year and then maybe I start

02:13:53

to think about, you know, perhaps

02:13:55

overseas or doing some adventures. I

02:13:58

don't know. We'll see what happens. Oh,

02:13:59

the All Blacks. Would you want that job?

02:14:02

>> Um,

02:14:04

that's uh way above uh where you know I

02:14:09

when I came into the Reds um I'd done

02:14:12

two years of you know under 20s and they

02:14:15

had an NRC and I I pretty much had to uh

02:14:20

sink or swim. I just had to learn on the

02:14:22

job.

02:14:23

>> I always thought if I was to go that

02:14:24

next level to do international I want to

02:14:26

be more than qualified. No, I it's it's

02:14:30

you know I went from leave to union and

02:14:31

it it was I had to it was crazy. I had

02:14:35

to learn all the stuff and tested me. I

02:14:38

went into coaching with no real

02:14:40

experience and um it tested me and

02:14:42

whatever which is all well and good but

02:14:45

um if I was to go that next level I want

02:14:48

to be uh almost overqualified you know

02:14:51

so that would be something I imagine

02:14:53

years down the track if I got back into

02:14:56

top level coaching. M

02:14:58

>> so yeah if if you're good enough or if

02:15:00

if you wanted who who knows.

02:15:02

>> Mhm. What do you make of that whole

02:15:03

recent all black thing with your old

02:15:05

teammate Razer?

02:15:06

>> It's a tough one mate. Yeah it's

02:15:07

>> brutal eh

02:15:08

>> yeah cuz you know if you think about it

02:15:10

I just think of myself at the red you

02:15:12

know two years in. Um we ended up we

02:15:15

were like the bottom sort of you know 9

02:15:18

million debt. um and one of the sort of

02:15:21

bottom Australian teams and you know by

02:15:24

the fourth year we won Australian

02:15:27

competition when it was you know the co

02:15:29

stuff two years in you know you could

02:15:32

have looked at me and just gone oh you

02:15:34

know um it ain't working

02:15:37

is um st what is it Ian Foster sorry um

02:15:43

you know two years out

02:15:45

>> it looked like might have been Razer

02:15:47

coming in Then if you remember,

02:15:49

>> yeah,

02:15:50

>> he went to a world cup with the guys in

02:15:53

the team um and led them in a world cup

02:15:56

to was it 1312 then score one point.

02:16:00

>> Yeah, it was very narrow loss in the

02:16:02

final

02:16:02

>> and they didn't have their captain and

02:16:05

seven important player in the team for

02:16:08

um 60 minutes of the game.

02:16:11

he could have been, you know,

02:16:14

you know, looked like he might have been

02:16:17

moved on then. So, it's a hard one, you

02:16:20

know, if you you have that uh time that

02:16:24

you're trying to build and um get to a

02:16:27

space. So, but it's happened and uh you

02:16:31

have compassion for um Razer cuz you

02:16:33

know I know him. He's a good guy. He's a

02:16:36

friend. And uh and um but yeah, it's

02:16:40

there's a there's a there's a

02:16:41

ruthlessness to that to that business,

02:16:43

mate. And uh this the famous saying as a

02:16:47

coach, as a head coach, you're either

02:16:48

sacked or you're going to be sacked.

02:16:50

>> Do you have you heard that before?

02:16:52

>> You heard that saying? No, I haven't.

02:16:54

>> That's what it is. Yeah. You're either

02:16:55

sacked or you're going to be sacked.

02:16:57

>> So, how's that?

02:16:59

>> See what I mean?

02:17:00

>> Why would you want to do that?

02:17:01

>> That's That's what That's what I'm

02:17:02

saying. like uh you know um

02:17:05

yeah like you can put as a exper you

02:17:08

know I had six years of head coach at

02:17:10

red I can put in a massive week and we

02:17:14

have a a loss

02:17:16

>> you know we played a bad game I can put

02:17:19

in uh the same week and we win if we win

02:17:23

you're the good guy if you lose you you

02:17:26

suck

02:17:27

>> you know what I mean

02:17:28

>> it's thin margins between hero and

02:17:30

>> yeah yeah and it's lonely out front, you

02:17:33

know, and um so yeah, uh the thing I

02:17:36

learned from my coaching is yeah, once

02:17:38

again, you know, you um compassion for

02:17:43

other coaches because it's a tough old

02:17:45

gig, you know. Um it's like learning to

02:17:48

be a tie prop. You cop a lot of beatups

02:17:51

on the way to getting to be a good

02:17:54

space. Wayne Bennett got moved on. All

02:17:57

the great, you know, everyone uh no

02:17:59

one's immune to it. Um, yeah. So,

02:18:03

>> well, thanks for those insights.

02:18:05

We got a few questions, then we'll go.

02:18:07

This is how how are you, how are you

02:18:09

finding this? Are you okay?

02:18:10

>> I've enjoyed talking to you, mate. I've

02:18:12

been looking forward to it.

02:18:12

>> Oh, wonderful. Same here.

02:18:14

>> Yeah. Born on the same day.

02:18:16

>> Unbelievable. Like twins.

02:18:18

>> This is meant to happen.

02:18:20

>> A brother from another mother.

02:18:21

>> Yeah.

02:18:22

>> What are your best and worst habits?

02:18:24

>> Uh, best best habits. Um,

02:18:31

I guess, uh, like I said, I like doing

02:18:34

things reasonably well if I do them.

02:18:38

>> Worst habits. Uh,

02:18:44

I'm trying to think of uh, I'm trying to

02:18:46

think of what my wife would say. What

02:18:49

about

02:18:50

>> I'm not good with like paperwork and

02:18:52

stuff, you know. Um,

02:18:53

>> oh my god. Maybe that's an Aquarius

02:18:55

thing. I'm the same. Hopeless. hopeless

02:18:57

with

02:18:58

>> um yeah and um sometimes I don't get

02:19:01

around to things you know so I get

02:19:03

distracted

02:19:05

>> champions don't always do

02:19:08

>> um when was the last time you cried

02:19:11

>> cried

02:19:14

like I said before secrets I'm a real

02:19:17

softy so sometimes I'll shed some do you

02:19:20

know what's embarrassing I don't know

02:19:22

when the last time I cried but um um I

02:19:26

like like lay miz, you know,

02:19:28

>> the musical, do you?

02:19:29

>> Yeah. Yeah.

02:19:31

>> I love uh Yeah, I love classical music.

02:19:34

I love all sorts of things. Um but um

02:19:38

>> that wasn't your pre

02:19:39

>> I shed tears in Liz and um the you know

02:19:45

uh you know where the the lady she can't

02:19:47

um she's trying to find she get loses

02:19:49

her job and um is it Fontaine? I can't

02:19:53

remember the lady's name. Um, and yeah,

02:19:57

it's Yeah, I sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh

02:19:59

sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh

02:19:59

sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh

02:19:59

sh sh sh sh sh shed a tear in that

02:20:00

movie, so it's embarrassing to say, but

02:20:03

it's out there. Yeah,

02:20:04

>> that's that's probably the biggest

02:20:06

surprise out of this whole podcast

02:20:08

today. I was not expecting that.

02:20:10

>> Um, is there a mistake that you wish you

02:20:13

could go back and correct?

02:20:16

>> Uh, it's probably probably heaps.

02:20:20

Um,

02:20:22

yeah. Uh I can't think on top of you

02:20:25

know I just think life sort of plays out

02:20:28

and I just feel like yeah the the one

02:20:32

thing about making mistakes is you know

02:20:35

hopefully you learn from them. So

02:20:38

>> um I could say taking on the head

02:20:40

coaching

02:20:43

>> but no I can't think of anything uh top

02:20:47

of my head.

02:20:48

>> That's good. What are you most afraid

02:20:50

of?

02:20:54

Uh

02:20:56

I um

02:20:58

yeah we my anxiety sometimes I battle a

02:21:02

bit with anxiety and you know

02:21:05

>> social sort of anxiety of you know being

02:21:07

in front of a lot of people you know

02:21:09

with all the attention on you you know

02:21:11

um speaking or whatever

02:21:13

>> that's that's something that you know

02:21:15

I've battled with over time um which I

02:21:19

talk about as well. Yeah, you do. That's

02:21:21

um that's something I had on my card,

02:21:23

but we we didn't really talk about in

02:21:24

the podcast, but um yeah, anxiety like

02:21:27

to the point where in your early days in

02:21:29

the Broncos, you went for team meetings,

02:21:31

you'd sit closest to the door just in

02:21:33

case you had to make um a hasty exit.

02:21:36

>> It was more mental just a mental thing.

02:21:38

It it is a mental. Yeah, it's like

02:21:40

>> But what I mean was being next to the

02:21:41

door having a jar was just mentally like

02:21:47

it just worked for me,

02:21:48

>> you know, instead of being stuck in a

02:21:50

corner where I felt like I sit there

02:21:51

thinking I can't get out of here if I

02:21:53

wanted to, which makes no sense. But,

02:21:56

uh,

02:21:57

>> you know, that's in my family. And I

02:21:59

think that's probably probably a big

02:22:01

part of my granddad's, you know, uh,

02:22:03

with the alcohol probably,

02:22:06

uh, trying to deal with that, you know,

02:22:08

PTSD from the war. Probably a coping

02:22:10

mechanism.

02:22:11

>> Yeah. I I I think he even had that

02:22:13

before the war. So, um, it's just in our

02:22:17

family.

02:22:17

>> I have cousins and stuff like that.

02:22:19

Battle away a bit. So, um, yeah.

02:22:24

>> You you were in Christ Church in 2011,

02:22:26

uh, during the earthquakes. did. Um,

02:22:28

yeah. How was your anxiety during that

02:22:30

time?

02:22:31

>> That doesn't phase me. It's more like me

02:22:34

getting up in front of a whole of

02:22:35

people, you know what I mean? Um, the

02:22:37

earthquakes, like that first one rolled

02:22:39

in, the 7.1,

02:22:42

it was 4 in the morning and I've jumped

02:22:44

out of bed and, you know, it's crazy.

02:22:49

But I remember lying in bed, getting

02:22:52

back in bed with my wife, you know,

02:22:54

growing up in Australia. And I remember

02:22:57

when I was little, I was trying to say

02:22:59

to my wife, there's some things you're

02:23:02

supposed to do when there's an

02:23:03

earthquake. Get I was thinking, get down

02:23:04

low. Go, go, go. There was a fire one in

02:23:07

Australia or something. I was thinking,

02:23:09

I wonder what we're supposed to do. And

02:23:11

then we end up just falling back to

02:23:13

sleep.

02:23:14

That's after the 7.1. Two of my kids

02:23:17

slept through it. One slightly roused

02:23:20

and then my four my cuz I little ones

02:23:22

then. Um, so yeah, we we just try to

02:23:25

keep calm around all that and that help

02:23:27

the kids um be in a good space with it

02:23:30

too.

02:23:33

>> If they were here, your kids, um, yeah,

02:23:36

what three words would you like them to

02:23:38

use to describe you?

02:23:42

>> Uh, hopefully loving be number one. Um,

02:23:48

fun. I like to think we have a lot of

02:23:51

fun. Uh

02:23:54

what what would be the third one?

02:23:58

Um

02:24:02

yeah, loving's caring. Uh struggling for

02:24:05

the third one. Um

02:24:09

hopefully uh that feel is protective.

02:24:13

>> I feel like I'm pretty protective guy. I

02:24:15

think that that probably with my footy

02:24:17

came through, you know, with my

02:24:19

teammates. Um, I really suited being a

02:24:22

tight lock cuz I have to look after my

02:24:24

prop. I like looking after the young

02:24:27

guys. If you saw me play, you know,

02:24:29

Richie, I'd look out for him, you know,

02:24:32

if I felt guys were having a go at him.

02:24:34

So, with my kids, I guess I have been

02:24:37

pretty protective of them. Um, yeah,

02:24:41

they're just so special to you, aren't

02:24:42

they? So yeah, that would be my three

02:24:44

words.

02:24:45

>> They're great words. Do you tell Do you

02:24:46

tell them you love them all the time or

02:24:47

is it not that sort of

02:24:49

>> Yeah, we're pretty affectionate. Like I

02:24:51

said, I'm I'm a softy, so you know, I

02:24:54

give my daughter hugs and uh you know,

02:24:58

the the sons, you know, they're going

02:24:59

about their thing. We're not hugging all

02:25:00

the time, but you know, it might be a

02:25:02

bit of a shoulder charge as I'm walking

02:25:04

past the hall. Um but we have uh real

02:25:09

good connection. We're tight family and

02:25:11

we did a lot of traveling to kids uh

02:25:14

Japan, Ireland, England. We lived in

02:25:15

these different places and uh we're

02:25:19

we're a real tight family. The kids are

02:25:21

tight. We're tight and it it's it's just

02:25:24

cool, mate. Yeah.

02:25:27

>> [ __ ] You love it, eh?

02:25:29

>> Yeah. It's awesome.

02:25:31

>> And it's hard to know if any of this

02:25:32

would have happened without if you

02:25:34

didn't reconnect with uh Jesus.

02:25:36

>> Yeah. I

02:25:38

mate. Um yeah, Maryanne.

02:25:42

Uh yeah, she like I said, I got my

02:25:46

married my best friend

02:25:47

>> and um

02:25:50

to be blessed with four kids. uh just so

02:25:53

grateful and um you know it just it's

02:25:58

been super cool and as you said I just

02:26:02

thank thank the Lord for all that I have

02:26:04

and um I know that uh you know in that

02:26:07

time there's been ups and downs there's

02:26:10

you know highs and lows

02:26:12

>> and I know going forward there will be

02:26:13

too but you know I know that you know

02:26:16

there's purpose in in in my life with

02:26:19

the Lord and um and I'm grateful M Brad

02:26:22

Kanei Thorne, are you proud of yourself?

02:26:26

>> Uh

02:26:28

I feel good about um cracking into

02:26:31

things, you know.

02:26:34

A straight mate, you've done some

02:26:35

incredible stuff. Um not just not just

02:26:37

in terms of your playing career, but um

02:26:39

you know, in your personal life as well.

02:26:41

What's wrong with a straight answer?

02:26:43

>> Yeah, probably. Yeah, you get so used to

02:26:45

being uh maybe it's the footy, you know,

02:26:47

being doing professional sport for so

02:26:49

long cuz you're always often all

02:26:52

downplay with the media. Do you know

02:26:54

what I mean? Maybe maybe you're actually

02:26:56

right about that instead of just saying,

02:26:58

"Hey, yeah, I am."

02:27:00

>> Maybe it's just

02:27:01

>> probably a Kiwi thing. Like, God, that

02:27:02

guy that guy's full of himself.

02:27:03

>> Yeah. Yeah. It could be that as well.

02:27:05

Yeah. I don't know. But um are you proud

02:27:08

of yourself?

02:27:09

>> Yeah. Yeah, I guess I am. And uh

02:27:12

uh I'm grateful

02:27:14

and um

02:27:18

yeah, I'm appreciative and um yeah, I'm

02:27:22

proud of our family and you know all

02:27:25

that. So yeah.

02:27:27

>> Well, I really appreciate you doing this

02:27:28

podcast today. It's been bloody

02:27:29

brilliant and um yeah, I wish you all

02:27:31

the best for whatever's next in the

02:27:33

chapter of your life. Brad Thorne,

02:27:35

>> thank you, mate. It's been awesome

02:27:36

meeting you, mate, and uh sharing this

02:27:38

time. Just having a real good chat. I

02:27:40

appreciate it. Appreciate your time.

02:27:42

Thanks, brother.

02:27:43

>> Awesome.

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

70
Most inspiring
70
Best performance
60
Most emotional
60
Most heartbreaking

Episode Highlights

Generation X Reflections
A nostalgic look at growing up before the internet.
“Kids these days will never know what it’s like to be bored.”
@ 04m 10s
February 22, 2026
Humbled by Rugby
Transitioning to rugby in his mid-20s was a humbling experience for him.
“Just think about that, starting to play rugby in your mid-20s.”
@ 20m 12s
February 22, 2026
The Importance of Routine
He emphasizes the significance of routine for consistent performance in sports.
“Routine is good for consistency of performance.”
@ 26m 10s
February 22, 2026
The Importance of Coaches
Having influential coaches like Wayne Bennett and Robbie Deans shapes a player's career.
“To have those guys talk about you is crazy.”
@ 44m 12s
February 22, 2026
A Father's Influence
He honors his father's role in his life, reflecting on the love and lessons learned.
“Job done, Lindsay, because me and Aaron...”
@ 01h 04m 07s
February 22, 2026
The Pain of Loss
He shares the ongoing impact of his father's passing and the grief that remains.
“It’s the price of great love, isn’t it?”
@ 01h 11m 05s
February 22, 2026
A Father's Last Ride
The poignant moment when he passed his father on a bike ride, unaware it would be their last encounter.
“I was just happy for him.”
@ 01h 21m 14s
February 22, 2026
Finding Purpose in Faith
His journey from a wild lifestyle to finding fulfillment through Christianity.
“I’m just grateful that God got me to that space.”
@ 01h 41m 26s
February 22, 2026
A Love Story
After 23 years of marriage, he calls Maryanne his best friend.
“She’s my best friend, you know.”
@ 01h 43m 08s
February 22, 2026
Meeting the Queen
He shares a memorable experience of meeting the Queen and the etiquette involved.
“It was nice to have a little chat to her.”
@ 01h 58m 23s
February 22, 2026
Family First
Finding peace and happiness comes from family and faith.
“What a privilege to share life with my wife and kids.”
@ 02h 12m 12s
February 22, 2026
Family Connection
A heartfelt discussion about the importance of family and affection.
“We’re a real tight family.”
@ 02h 25m 19s
February 22, 2026

Episode Quotes

Anything that’s worth achieving usually takes some commitment and perseverance.
Brad Thorn's Most Savage Moments from Legendary Career
If I'm going to do stuff, I just like doing them well.
Brad Thorn's Most Savage Moments from Legendary Career
Job done, Lindsay, because me and Aaron...
Brad Thorn's Most Savage Moments from Legendary Career
I was just happy for him.
Brad Thorn's Most Savage Moments from Legendary Career
Your job’s to win.
Brad Thorn's Most Savage Moments from Legendary Career
You're either sacked or you're going to be sacked.
Brad Thorn's Most Savage Moments from Legendary Career

Key Moments

Humbled Journey20:12
Routine Matters26:10
Competitive Mindset40:50
High Standards45:52
Faith Journey1:27:07
Love Story1:42:59
All Blacks Responsibility1:52:03
Masculinity2:03:01

Words per Minute Over Time

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July 20, 2025

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