Brad Thorn fears 'real world'

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Brad Thorn admits he is starting to fret.

For almost as long as he can remember, Thorn has revelled in chasing the pigskin on the rugby and rugby league fields, but the 34-year-old knows the joyride is approaching the finish line.

And it is what lies around the corner – the place that some ex-rugby players call "the real world" – that has him worried.

The Mosgiel-born lock turned professional soon after leaving high school in Queensland, when he joined the Brisbane Broncos, and says: "I have been doing this since I was six years old and I just love footy. It is like what I am programmed to do and it is quite daunting for me post-footy."

Since joining the Broncos as a teenager in 1994, Thorn has amassed a mountain of international, state and provincial jerseys along with the medals that accompany the successes of winning Super, NPC and NRL competitions.

Yet, despite learning to cope with the intense pressure of playing 42 tests for the All Blacks, it is the thought of retiring and walking into the unknown that has him crinkling his brow.

"For me, playing for the All Blacks is like Christmas Day every week mate."

He has investigated a career as a physical education teacher and has studied several papers, and has also mulled over the possibilities of starting his own business.

Thorn still has plenty of time to consider his rugby afterlife and when his contract with the New Zealand Rugby Union expires at the end of next year he may have a crack at playing in the northern hemisphere.

When professional rugby players retire, it is not only deciding what to do next that troubles them; they also miss mixing with their mates at training, the bonds formed during hard-fought matches and the daily routines that are mapped out for them by management.

Thorn in 2004 got a brief taste of filling the void when he was unwanted by All Blacks coach Graham Henry.

"And I felt, and I have to be a little bit careful with the words you use, but a little bit depressed because I had spent my whole life with the goal to be an All Black and then it was done."

- © Fairfax NZ News