Brad Thorn re-signs and Vunivalu on his way to Reds

Head coach and dual international Brad Thorn is expected to announce that he and his support staff have all agreed to re-sign with the Queensland Reds for another season in 2021.

Head coach and dual international Brad Thorn is expected to announce that he and his support staff have all agreed to re-sign with the Queensland Reds for another season in 2021.

And that’s not the end of the good news for the Reds, with Suliasi Vunivalu, who scored the 80m intercept try for the Melbourne Storm in the NRL grand final that ultimately proved the difference against Penrith, headed to Ballymore for the next two seasons. He is likely to form a dynamic wing duo with Queensland’s new Wallabies flyer, Filipo Daugunu.

A one-year deal is not seen as an indicator that Thorn isn’t prepared to commit to the Reds long-term. But with neither side having any certainty of what the broadcast deal will deliver or indeed having any idea how next season will unfold, it was felt a one-year signing would hold things in place until events become clearer.

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Importantly, all of the team he had around him in the 2020 season – assistant coaches Jim McKay (attack coach), Michael Todd (defence coach), Damian Marsh (strength and conditioning coach), Gina Nelson (physiotherapist) and team manager Tom Barker – have recommitted for next season as well.

Queensland had won only two out of seven games in the normal season when Super Rugby was suspended and ultimately abandoned because of the coronavirus pandemic but they had completed the gruelling trip to South Africa and Argentina and outscored the ultimate NZ champions, the Crusaders, four tries to three in Christchurch. When competition resumed with a purely domestic series, the Thorn-coached Reds made it through to the final but were beaten by the Brumbies 23-28 for the Super Rugby AU title.

Storm centre Justin Olam with rugby-bound teammate Suliasi Vunivalu after winning the NRL grand final

It was a result that showcased Brumbies boss Dan McKellar as favourite to succeed Dave Rennie as Wallabies coach following the 2023 World Cup but it also shone the spotlight on Thorn as a rising coaching star. In his three seasons to date with the Reds he has shown himself to be a powerful motivator of young men and Rugby Australia’s director of rugby Scott Johnson believes Thorn too could go on to coach the Wallabies.

Certainly everything he touched during his 22-year playing career in the two rugby codes was marked by success. In the 15-man game, he is the only person in history ever to win a Rugby World Cup (2011 with the All Blacks), a Super Rugby title (2008 with the Crusaders) and a Heineken Cup crown (with Leinster in 2012), all this while amassing 59 caps with the All Blacks.

As a rugby league player, he tasted victories at every level, winning four NRL premierships with the Brisbane Broncos, playing 14 times for the Maroons in State of Origin while also winning eight Kangaroos caps. There isn’t a coach in the game with credentials to match and it is not difficult to understand why the young Reds side hangs on his every word.

Most of them have re-signed with Queensland through to the end of 2022, while some, including pivotal tighthead Taniela Tupou, have signed on for the full duration of the World Cup cycle, committing to the Reds until the end of the 2023 season. While the Reds have lost the Smith twins, JP and Ruan, to the American league and are still uncertain whether they will be re-signing winger Chris Feauai-Sautia, who is still troubled by a hip flexor injury, the core of their squad is remarkably intact for 2021.

And there were champagne corks popping at Ballymore following the NRL grand final, not because of any particular devotion to the Melbourne Storm but because the Storm’s brilliant right winger, Vunivalu, is headed to the Reds now that his rugby league career has ended on a high. He possibly could make an appearance in November but the expectation is that he will visit his family in Fiji before reporting for pre-season in January.

If he can bring his rugby league skills over to rugby – and there were approving smiles all round from rugby types as he went high to pull in a kick that Penrith were desperate to regain – he could well find himself invited into the Wallabies next season.

Vunivalu, 24, knows his way to the tryline, having scored more than 80 tries from 100-odd NRL games and he has already served his residency period to qualify for Australia, having joined the Storm as an 18-year-old.

“We have seen over the last couple of week what he is capable of bringing to the Queensland Reds,” said Sam Cordingley, the Reds rugby general manager.

“He has been running a lot of impressive metres and making good reads defensively. He has been one of the Storm’s key players and we are very excited that he is coming to Queensland.”