'Yeah mate, I can see potential in you' - The meeting with Brad Thorn that turned the fortunes of a 3rd XV prop onto the path of professional rugby
As the old sports adage suggests, hard work beats talent and Reds prop Dane Zander is a testament to that.
Zander missed out on the prestigious Nudgee College 1st XV in his senior year, instead running out for the seconds and even thirds.
Now 20, he’s since paved his own way to professional rugby where he became a regular member of the Queensland Reds matchday 23 in 2020.
In early January Zander made his Super Rugby debut in round one against the Brumbies, becoming the 1346th Queensland representative in a 27-24 loss in Canberra.
“Running out at GIO Stadium, just coming off the bench and being able to play for my State was unbelievable. It was a dream come true for sure,” Zander told RugbyPass.
But that dream seemed out of reach throughout high school, where he sat in the stands to watch the firsts rather than play himself.
Nudgee may be the most recognisable Australian schoolboy rugby factory, known for producing world class talent such as James O’Connor, former Wallaby captain Rocky Elsom, and former Crusaders and Fijian Winger Nemani Nadolo.
Onion TV documented the culture of the illustrious first fifteen with The Season a year after Zander graduated in 2017, showcasing the highly competitive nature of Nudgee rugby.
The prop admitted that he was disappointed not to have been able to don the blue and white hoops of the Nudgee firsts, but clarified that it wasn’t the be all and end all at the time.
“When I was at school, it wasn’t really a goal of mine [to pursue rugby], I just wanted to play at the highest level I could and play with my mates at school.
“I did the 1st XV preseason but ended up missing out because I didn’t get picked. But I really enjoyed playing seconds and thirds with all my mates.
“It was a little disappointing but I knew that I probably wasn’t up to the standard back then just because I wasn’t really mature in my rugby game. It was a little disappointing but it wasn’t the end of the world.”
After graduating from Nudgee in 2016, Zander continued his rise through the Queensland rugby ranks with club side Norths. After mainly playing colts at first, he later cemented his place within the Premier Grade squad which led to higher honours.
He was selected in the Brisbane City National Rugby Championship squad in 2019, where his scrum potential caught the eye of Assistant Cameron Lillicrap.
Lillicrap proposed a meeting with Zander and Queensland Reds head coach Brad Thorn, which gave him the opportunity to pursue State honours.
“It was midway through the NRC season, I had a meeting with Cameron Lillicrap and Brad Thorn. Thorny was sort of saying, ‘yeah mate I can see potential in you, and if you cut down a bit of the weight and put some muscle on, you’ll have a good future.’
“I worked massively on my diet. The Reds hooked me up with a dietitian and I went through that and got a meal plan from her. But also the conditioning training, stripping down the weight in the gym.”
He’s since looked to learn off the players around him at the Reds as he continues his incredible rise, which included a start against the Bulls in the final match before the coronavirus outbreak.
“Scrummaging alongside JP Smith, Taniela Tupou and Brandon Paenga-Amosa, I just try to learn as much off them every session because they’ve played at the highest levels of rugby that you can. It’s been awesome learning off them.”
The Reds are now three weeks back into their second pre-season of 2020, with Zander firmly focused on the seasons resumption in July.
“We’ve sort of been focusing on that at training, having no repacks because we’ve seen the New Zealand teams have been doing pretty well in that area. It’s a good thing because it’ll speed the game up a bit cause when there’s about two or three repacks of scrums it can really slow the game down.
“The game will be a bit quicker with the news rules that have come in and it’ll be a really high standard of footy because everyone is really itching to play and get out there.
“I’m extremely keen to get back and start playing again because it’s been a few months since our last game against the Bulls. I think everyone is keen to get out there and have a go.
“I’m super keen to get an opportunity against some Australian teams. It’s all local derby matches each weekend so it’s going to bring the best out of Australian rugby so I can’t wait for that.”
The up-and-comers journey just goes to show that it isn’t where you start but where you finish that counts.
Zander has been selected in the Reds squad for Vodafone Super Rugby AU, where he’ll look to add to his growing number of caps.
The Queensland Reds host the New South Wales Waratahs on July 3rd to kick-off the competition in Australia.
Comments on RugbyPass
This is short sighted from Clayton if you ask me, smacks of too much preseason planning and no adaptability. What if DMac is out for a must win match, are they still only going to bring their best first five and playmaker on late in the game? Trusting the game to someone who wasn’t even part of planning (they would have had Trask pinned in as Jacomb preseason). Perhaps if the Crusaders were better they would not have done this, but either way imo you take this opportunity to play a guy you might need starting in a final rather than having their 12th game getting comfortable coming off the bench.
1 Go to commentsThanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.
21 Go to commentsWhat a load of bollocks. The author has forgotten to mention the fact that the Crusaders have a huge injury toll with top world class players out. Not to mention the fact that they are obviously in a transition period. No this will not spark a slow death for NZ rugby, but it does mean there will be a new Super Rugby champion. Anyone who knows anything about NZ rugby knows that there is some serious talent here, it just isn’t all at the Crusaders.
1 Go to commentsI wouldn’t spend the time on Nawaqanitawase! No point in having him filling in a jersey when he’s committed to leave Union. Give the jersey to a young prospect who will be here in the future.
4 Go to commentsIt was a pleasure to watch those guys playing with such confidence. That trio can all be infuriating for different reasons and I can see why Jones might have decided against them. No way to justify leaving Ikitau out though. Jorgensen and him were both scheduled to return at the same time. Only one of them plays for Randwick and has a dad who is great mates with the national coach though.
53 Go to commentsBrayden Iose and Peter Lakai are very exciting Super Rugby players but are too short and too light to ever be a Test 8 vs South Africa, France, Ireland, and England, Lakai could potentially be a Test player at 7 if he is allowed to focus on 7 for Hurricanes.
7 Go to commentsPencils “Thomas du Toit” into possible 2027 Bok squad.
1 Go to commentsDon’t see why Harrison makes the bench. Jones can play at 10 if needed, and there is a good case for starting her there to begin with if testing combinations. That would leave room for Sing on the bench
1 Go to commentsWhat a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.
29 Go to commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
5 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
5 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to comments