An U20s apprenticeship has been enough to show the Queensland Reds that Brad Thorn is coaching material.
The Queensland Reds on Thursday confirmed Thorn would be joining the senior coaching staff, after guiding the U20s forwards in their undefeated Super U20s season this year.
Thorn will stay involved with the fledgling Reds, but that will be a lighter load as the national U20s program begins.
Reds general manager Daniel Hebert said his U20s success had shown plenty of potential for his coaching future.
“Not all players make the transition to coaching easily and we wanted to give Brad time to adjust,” he said.
“We are now at a point where Brad feels excited about the opportunity with the Reds and all of us feel he can make a valuable contribution to our Super Rugby program.
“He will spend the next two weeks coaching those squad members who haven’t travelled to Africa and will join the Reds coaching staff full-time for the remainder of this season, when the main squad returns from the African tour.”
Thorn said he felt he was ready to make the step up to Super Rugby.
“I’ve really enjoyed the ability to have a virtual apprenticeship with the Under-20s and the Reds have been very understanding since I arrived at Ballymore. I now feel I can use my experience to assist this Reds program.”
Queensland faces the Bulls and the Stormers in South Africa over the next fortnight, before returning to face the Cheetahs on April 30.
