Quade Cooper revisits Brad Thorn controversy after All Blacks legend ‘tried to kill my dream’

Quade Cooper has hit out at All Blacks legend Brad Thorn, almost eight years after the fly-half was sidelined by the then-Reds head coach.

In 2017, the talented playmaker returned to the Queensland outfit after two years away and featured throughout that Super Rugby campaign, but prior to the 2018 season he was banished by the franchise’s hierarchy.

Cooper would duly leave the Reds and joined Melbourne Rebels in 2019 before resurrecting his career in Japan after signing for Kintetsu Liners.

He has remained there for the past few years but is set to depart at the end of the current campaign.

Cooper’s journey after Thorn’s brutal conversation

On Saturday, the 37-year-old was potentially playing his final game for Kintetsu and he took to X, formerly Twitter, to reflect on the journey where Thorn was in the firing line.

“In 2017, Brad Thorn & Sam Cordingley (ex-Wallaby and Reds general manager) told me I wasn’t needed. Said I was 4th, maybe 5th choice and that every athlete hits their end,” he wrote.

“I left that meeting feeling like my career was done. Some people will look you in the eye and try to kill your dream.

“If I’d listened, I’d have missed 8 more years playing the game I love. 3 more with the national team. Countless memories, lessons, and growth.

“The last 5 years have been a blessing and a bonus. Back yourself. Always. Especially when they tell you not to.”

Quade Cooper reveals Brad Thorn’s brutal decision prompted retirement thoughts before career rebirth

After moving to Japan, Cooper made his return to international rugby in 2021 under Dave Rennie following four years in the wilderness.

He would guide them to four successive victories in the Rugby Championship that year, including kicking a last-minute winning penalty against world champions South Africa.

Eddie Jones would replace Rennie in 2023 and, despite featuring a few times under the new head coach, he did not make the Rugby World Cup, ending his Wallabies career.

The playmaker is still going strong at the age of 37, however, and on the way to Kintetsu’s key clash on Saturday, he wrote: “On the bus to the game and the thoughts are running like a movie. The setbacks, the doubt, the people who counted me out… and the fact I’m still here.. Grateful.”

Cooper’s last dance in Japan

That match could have been been his final one in Japan but his side claimed a 38-7 triumph over Toyota Shuttles to set up a promotion play-off with Honda Heat.

Cooper continues to prove Thorn wrong all these years later, although the fly-half admits that the Reds boss’ decision did help him re-evaluate his approach to the sport.

“When I went back and played club footy, I really started to enjoy helping other players. At club footy, they’ve got nothing, no resources and the coaching is very minimal, but everybody’s giving their time,” he said on the Kick Offs and Kick Ons podcast in May last year.

“What they’ve got an abundance of is guys willing to give time. For me, that was a huge point where everything changed in terms of what I want to do with my time.

“When I started, I said: ‘I know I have to be strong to play this season and if I’m going to be playing club footy, I can’t just be blending in.’

“It couldn’t be, ‘yeah he seems a bit better than those players’, I had to be the best player on the field every single week.”

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