All Black jersey worth the pain of a broken leg

By SCOTT MacLEOD

Brad Thorn's career as an All Black was short - but not as short as Ross Fraser's.

Yesterday, Thorn returned his black jersey after just one day, despite ditching a top rugby league career in Australia in his highly publicised bid to make the All Blacks.

He said he was honoured to be named an All Black, but withdrew because he did not know if he wanted to play rugby next year.

"I just couldn't take the jersey when I haven't yet made a decision about what I will be doing next year. I didn't feel that was right."

He said he was heading back to Brisbane to "chill out" and decide on his future.

Thorn's shock decision brought back memories of the day in 1979 when Taranaki flanker Ross Fraser broke a leg in a match against Counties just hours before the All Blacks were to be named.

"I had a premonition that I was destined for higher honours, so I elected not to tell anyone I had a broken leg," Fraser said.

"I pretended there was nothing wrong. I played it cool."

However, he did acknowledge that he would have to leave the field - under his own power, so no one would notice the break.

Fraser could hear the snapped bones grinding together as he walked towards an ambulance on the sideline. If he got in the back the selectors would know his injury was serious, so he jumped in the cab - one of the most painful things he had ever done.

At the hospital, Fraser walked inside and said to a surgeon: "You've got to help me keep a secret." He was already in a plaster when the team were named at 6 pm.

For Fraser, gaining and losing the black jersey at the same time was gut-wrenching. Another All Black told him he would never feel as bad again as long as he lived - and that he should treasure the feeling.

Fraser did not understand what that meant, but four years ago he was told he had cancer and consoled himself that it was not as bad as when he lost the jersey. The memory helped Fraser fight the cancer, and today the 50-year-old runs marathons.

So what does he think of Thorn simply throwing it in?

"My whole life was about being in the All Blacks, and it's amazing that he's taken the wrong option," Fraser said. "But they choose so many players nowadays I wonder if it's taken some gloss off the jersey."

Thorn is not the only one to spurn a shot at the jersey. Auckland prop Greg Denholm did it twice - in 1976, when asked to join the team as a replacement, and the next year, when selectors asked him to be available for a French tour. Both times Denholm said he could not afford to leave his work as a lawyer.

Others have been selected without playing, but veteran television commentator Keith Quinn said Thorn was unique.

"He made so much commitment to get here, then turned it down. It's bizarre. He's thrown in a league career, fulfilled his dreams, and chucked it all in."

The Encyclopaedia of New Zealand Rugby says that up to 1981, 24 players had been selected for the All Blacks but did not play.