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Home / Whanganui Chronicle / Sport

Thorn still in full bloom

By Jared Smith
Whanganui Chronicle·
23 Sep, 2016 10:59 AM4 mins to read

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I am very glad I left my Brad Thorn tribute column in April 2015 open-ended with this caveat - "A warrior is never out of the fight".

The 41-year-old has tapped into the Fountain of Youth and he ain't sharing as he seems hell-bent of racking up 500 professional football matches, across two codes, after being included on the bench for Queensland Country in today's National Rugby Championship (NRC) clash with the Western Sydney Rams at Sydney's Concord Oval.

Thorn, who had become assistant coach for Country as they entered the third season of Australian Rugby's attempt at a national competition, had decided even earlier than the squad announcement in August that he would make another first-class footy comeback, following his "retirement" at the Leicester Tigers last year.

Incredibly, it was only a "niggling ankle injury" that was holding him back until now.

A quick search of several men's health websites about changes to the body at 40 reveal that most encourage you to refuse accepting slowing down.

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Sure, biological changes will occur such as blood pressure increasing from the years of every-day strain, and there will be a slight shrinking in height, but one orthopaedic surgeon was insistent that "it's a myth that 40 is a doomsday birthday".

"Your muscle mass does not decrease if you consistently work out at a high level. We decrease in athletic prowess because we stop training hard.

"If we feel weaker, we are failing our bodies - our bodies are not failing us."

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Thorn is a steadfast disciple of this concept.

Blessed by only suffering a couple of significant injuries in his three decade career, the training dynamo Thorn knew how he still felt inside and had told Aussie media back in January when he joined the Queensland Reds coaching staff that the fire was still burning in the basement.

"I didn't actually retire because of my body, I retired because it seemed like I should - I turned 40.

"If you had have put the number 32 next to my name, as far as age, I would have signed another two-year contract.

"My body feels good. I've always been open and honest, I just love playing."

You know, at the end of the season, another Australian Barbarians squad will be selected to play the NZ Heartland XV, in a follow up to the inaugural two-match series we saw last
November, with the deciding game at Cooks Gardens.

The Barbarians are selected from players in the eight teams of the NRC who are not contracted to play Super Rugby, which currently, includes Thorn.

Given the former 59-test All Black should technically be eligible under residency rules, given he has spent many years living in Brisbane during his two league stints, what price yet another international jersey for the cast iron veteran?

And how awesome would it be for several of our home town boys to match up against him, given Steelform Wanganui had six players in the 2015 Heartland squad after winning the Meads Cup, and are looking good so far this campaign.

Peter Rowe vs Brad Thorn in the forwards? I'd pay good money to see that.

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* * * *

By now, hopefully everyone has seen the online videos of the final moments of the gruelling 2016 World Triathlon Series race in Cozumel, Mexico.

In a moment that transcends sport, because the images translate clearer than discussions of triathlon stamina, pacing, and offsetting the symptoms of heat exhaustion, 28-year-old Alistair Brownlee, the Olympic champion, came upon his 26-year-old brother Jonathan, silver medallist, in a state of near total collapse just 500m from the finishing line.

It was an instant which must have stretch on for an eternity, given Alistair had to decide in that moment whether to pass Jonny and try to run down South African Henri Schoema, who had just taken the lead.

Remember, family aside, this is competitive racing, and Jonny - who also took the 2012 Olympic bronze just behind his brother - is technically Alistair's greatest rival.

But for big brother, there was no choice to make - he moved aside the race official tending to Jonny and threw his arm over his own shoulder, whispering into the ear of his younger sibling that "come on mate, it's time to go."

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To insure Jonny would make it over the line, Alistair did the only thing he could and pushed his collapsing younger brother ahead of him at the final step, meaning this great champion not only gave up any chance of victory, but he also willingly surrendered second place to a fellow competitor who otherwise was guaranteed a DNF.

I've watched the moment online a handful of times now, and someone always seems to be chopping onions nearby when I do.

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