“He’d spent the previous few days trying to get over a dose of chickenpox, and now this was his first taste of Super League. He looked sort of stunned,” recalls Thorman, with a grin. “Mind you, I couldn’t help wondering whether I’d made the right decision myself.”
At least, he acknowledges, he had a slightly better idea of what to expect than the former Canberra Raiders hooker in choosing to sign for Huddersfield Giants. That being so, Thorman’s decision to leave the Parramatta Eels after a year in the National Rugby League (NRL) in Australia and to return to west Yorkshire seems all the more surprising. The talented 24-year-old half-back was offered another year’s contract by the west Sydney club, in itself proof that he had impressed his hosts, but Thorman had already made up his mind that his future belonged back at a club he last played for three years ago.
Partly, he explains, that was because of Parramatta’s disappointing form: the club finished 2004 in 12th place out of 15 within the NRL. “I didn’t want another losing season,” he says. “Looking back, I understand the club is going through a transitional period, and that maybe the coach (Brian Smith, brother of Leeds Rhinos coach Tony) got it a little bit wrong in his assessment of the way the game is going over there. He signed a lot of big guys and looked for them to make a big impact in short bursts, but it just didn’t work.
“Personally, I was happy with my form at Parramatta, because I’d gone over there knowing I’d start in the reserve team. But I’d got into the first team playing where I wanted to, at five-eighth (stand-off), and I felt I was making a contribution. I decided quite early to come back, though, because that way I knew there’d be more options. Clubs have a close-season budget for transfers and they usually use it quickly. You have to think about these things.”
At the same time, Thorman is quick to admit that he learnt a great deal about the game in Australia, and has come back to England both mentally and physically stronger. He also says he has become a much more technically adept player as a result of his time there. Nor, despite being the only British player at the club, was homesickness ever a factor for him in Sydney.
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So wasn’t coming back to England simply a case of taking the easiest option? Thorman’s reply is unexpected. “In that I feel comfortable at Huddersfield, it probably is,” he says.
“I know a lot of people here, but many things have changed as well. The fact that I knew Brad and Michael De Vere had already signed, for example, made the decision a lot easier to justify, both to myself and to others, like you.”
With eight tries and 65 goals for Brisbane Broncos, centre De Vere was the fifth-highest scorer in the NRL last year, while Drew is acknowledged to be one of the best hookers in the world. Along with Thorman, the three bring quality to a club that began impressively last season, reaching the Challenge Cup semi-finals and spending much of the season in a playoff position before falling away to finish seventh. For Thorman, this season’s playoffs are a minimum target.
“Definitely,” he says. “One or two of the so-called lesser clubs could get in among the big boys this season, because they’ve got more strength in depth, which was a problem here last season. That was the biggest difference in Australia — there was no such thing as an easy game. Teams like New Zealand Warriors, who had a bad year, were still full of internationals. Super League’s not at that stage yet, but it ’s getting there. The mentality is changing, too. When I left, it was all about survival; now it’s about winning. The coaching has moved on to a different level and so have the expectations. The players that have come in are part of that.”
The pre-season training camp in Portugal was a good example, he says. On the first day, he and De Vere, who is still recovering from a knee operation and is expected to be fit in a couple of weeks’ time, went down for training half an hour early to do some extra work. By the end of the week, the whole squad was joining them. Drew spent the hours leading up to the Leigh game on a saline drip but still put in an hour of quality work and didn’t leave the pitch before the match was well won.
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Another target for Thorman is breaking into the Great Britain squad. “Brian Noble (the coach) talked to me last season and said I was there or thereabouts, but being a reserve for the Tri-Nations series was disappointing, because those games, with huge crowds filling big stadiums, were fantastic. So that’s another real motivation, because I want to be part of it.”
If it happens, Thorman believes he will become the first graduate of the famous Wallsend Boys Club — previous alumni include Alan Shearer, Peter Beardsley, Steve Bruce and Michael Carrick — to win an international cap at a sport other than football. It might have been rugby union had he accepted an offer of a trial from Newcastle Falcons, but by then he knew rugby league was his game. On which subject, Thorman deems it worth pointing out that the Giants are giving a trial to the 21-year-old Falcons centre Stephen Jones. “I like watching union, especially the Six Nations, but I find it surprising when there’s so much fuss about Andy Farrell making the switch,” he says. “There’s traffic in both directions.”
Today’s game against Hull, on a Galpharm pitch that will be a lot firmer than that at Leigh, should be as good to watch as Thorman believes it will be to play in. Both teams will be without big summer signings (De Vere and Hull’s Kiwi international Stephen Kearney), but Thorman and Drew are determined to make an impression in their first games in front of home support.
“We trained to play in a certain style against Leigh, but the conditions wouldn’t allow it,” said Thorman. “Hopefully, there will be a lot more running rugby against Hull, something to keep us and the fans warm.” Summer rugby in the depths of winter, perhaps.