Queensland Reds coach Brad Thorn has reacted with disappointment to “annoying” accusations that he “has not been good to work with” at Rugby Australia.
The Sydney Morning Herald this week reported Thorn’s interest in succeeding Dave Rennie as Wallabies coach but in the same piece quoted an unnamed RA source throwing cold water onto those ambitions.
“In the context of getting greater changes around high performance coaching, Thorn has not been good to work with,” the highly placed source told the SMH.
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“He has not been a team player. A decision doesn’t have to be made now but he had better turn that around – and quickly.”
Thorn, who has led a Reds revival into the best Super Rugby team in Australia, responded to those charges on Thursday.
“It’s always interesting when someone says something like that but if there’s no name to it – who am I talking to?” the former dual code champion said.
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“If someone close to me, my staff or my family were critiquing me in that way then it hurts, but who are you talking to?
“I’ve been big on team here. I don’t really know what to say.”
Rennie is contracted through to the end of next year’s Rugby World Cup and Thorn, alongside Brumbies coach and Wallabies assistant Dan McKellar, are the leading domestic contenders to replace him.
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“Why am I having to talk about it. I’m just living my life doing my thing,” Thorn said.
“It’s annoying. I’m happy to talk about something if I feel strongly about something, have a chat, communicate, but if you don’t have a name to it… it sucks for me I’m standing here talking about this.
“I just said what I’d like to think most Super Rugby coaches in Australia would say – they hold the Wallabies and the coaching role in high esteem, it would be an honour and a privilege and a responsibility if you ever got that opportunity.
“Sometime down the track who knows where you’d end up – maybe not coaching the Wallabies but doing something else in your life. Maybe stay in coaching – and wouldn’t that be a positive thing to represent your country in that way?
“That’s the words I’ve said and my name’s next to it.”
The Reds play the Rebels in Melbourne on Friday night.
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