Brad Thorn has a reputation. The extent of that resonated reputation, communicated into your worldview, is now setting the table to the meal that is your Brad Thorn presupposition.
Much like in many areas of our lives, we argue from the partial to the whole, forming our perspective on a sound byte here and some visual stimuli there, which we then extrapolate in the recesses of our mind, forming the whole from the clay of our individual consciousness.
Obtaining knowledge in such a manner is fine, even expected, as a correct and a complete understanding are two distinct locations, even as they both flow and intertwine toward a common home.
As this relates to big bad Brad Thorn, I have already indicated the tenor of this notation with such a reference. Brad Thorn is referenced as a hard man for the All Blacks, and if you support the All Blacks; he more than likely, has your admiration and favour. On the other hand, if you say, support the Bokke, he is that illegitimate son – he did play for the Kangaroos in that other code – one that is scorned as a heater radiating as a head.
Whatever perspective you are bringing to the table, take a feed of the following words before the big re:Union on September 24th, between the All Blacks and France, at the Rugby World Cup:
On the eve of the French game, the All Blacks hard man decided to take his wife out for lunch – the not-so-quiet environs of Auckland harbour.
“There were Frenchmen coming up and being cheeky,” Thorn is quoted as saying in the Times. “And heaps of Kiwis. People love their footie, they don’t mean any harm. We were walking along saying hello to people of all nationalities. What a wonderful atmosphere.“
The Guardian’s headline writers have even decided to christen Thorn’s side the “Chill Blacks” based on his worldly outlook. “There is so much crap going on in the world in places like Syria and Libya that it is invigorating to walk the streets and take in happy supporters wearing the colours of so many nations,” he was quoted as saying in The Guardian. “It is how it should be. My wife and I sat in a restaurant and absorbed it all.“
One of the first thoughts that went through my mainframe when reading was to recall that Brad Thorn around Test time likes his space, which is exemplified by his perpetual stance at the end of the anthemic cue. However, here he is now embracing what reads like a polar reality, inviting people into his special space.
Hmmm. Maybe change is not that bad, after all. In fact, it can open a whole new vista of reality. The older we get – Happy Birthday for me on the 24th – the more we need to fight the urge to settle! Roam. Explore. Risk. Settle can often be an excuse for second!
If you have been reared in an All Black world, you should well remember reports about the gruff and rough exterior of our fabled few in Black, with those in the Western Island more acquainted with such sunny praise from the press. Now this one swallow is not a sure sign of summer, but culture-making has a beginning that is accentuated with multiple moments like these.
Yes, some of the world’s media want to make out that the All Blacks have the weight of the world on their shoulders, as they deal with the burden of 24 years. If they, the players, buy into this narrative, such will be a hefty price to pay in the coming weeks, as the times becomes arduous, and the weight becomes taxing. Mentally, this will feel like the war-torn and worn-torn physical destinations, Thorn references in his words. Such a price demands payment. Just maybe, this drop in the bucket will prove overflowing in the coming weeks, as the men in Black stayed chilled when the heat is on.
On the other hand, I can hear it now; doubters from any number will want to tell a different story filled with choking and failure, if only they can convince you of this fact, so that you indeed swallow their summer, and become what they say you are.
Read into this what you assume, but this present time in our Union lives, underscores the worth in holding a given perspective in the palm of our hands. Whether one can lay the blame to the evident growth in Thorn’s perspective in the terror in the firma – the Earthquakes – the fact that Thorn contextualises his words, in light of, underscores the worth of gaining perspective and challenging assumptions in a given position.
Finally in this reflection of words, there was a time when it was a no-brainer when referencing the sporting career of Brad Thorn. He was a very successful League player who also had some, in the other code.
However, with the lengthening of his career and legacy; you sense the growth toward an inverted reality. Yes, he was very much reared in the 13 man code, but the passion and desire of boyhood dreams and first loves refuse to die a quick and unfulfilled death, and so it was. Thanks to the intervention of good friend, Robbie Deans, Thorn’s sun is setting very slowly, even as his name falls very quickly on the All Blacks Test team sheet.
Thorn is witnessing the biggest laughs at the International level in this Rugby World Cup, and you know what laughing last means – it sounds very good.
Perspective.
McCawesomeness!
Until Next Time
iamjonnyking
