Sam Thaiday

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**Sam Thaiday**
Personal information

Full name	Sam Thaiday
Date of birth	12 June 1985
Place of birth	Sydney, Australia
Height	1.81 m
Weight	108 kg
Position	Second Row
Club information
Current club	Brisbane Broncos
Youth clubs
	Townsville Brothers
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (points)
2003-present	Brisbane	44 (12)
Representative teams**
2006 2006	Queensland Australia	3 (0) 2 (0)
* Professional club appearances and points counted for domestic first grade only and correct as of 1 October 2006. ** Representative team caps and points correct as of 4 November 2006.

Sam Thaiday (born 12 June 1985 in Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian rugby league player for the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugby League competition. His position of choice is at Prop forward.

[edit] Career

Sam Thaiday was born in Sydney, NSW before moving to Queensland. He made his debut for the Brisbane Broncos against the Canterbury Bulldogs in Round 18 of the 2003 season, at the age of 18. He had played just 10 games before 2005, and in 2005 he still only played 14 games.

It wasn't until 2006 that Sam Thaiday's career, still at a young age of 20, started to lift. Solid form in the first 10 weeks of the Broncos season earned him a spot on the Queensland bench for Game I of the 2006 Rugby League State of Origin series. He was also selected on the bench for the following 2 games for the Maroons, who went on to win the series. After that, when the Broncos were in the "slump that wasn't a slump", coach Wayne Bennett moved Thaiday from the bench to the starting side. This, among other changes, saw the Broncos' season turn around, and they ended up winning the premiership.

Thaiday was selected for the Australian Tri-Nations team and made his international debut in Game 2 against New Zealand after concussion ruled Willie Mason out.

[edit] Career highlights

3 state of origin for Queensland
Junior Club: Townsville Brothers
Schoolboys: Kirwan State High School
First Grade Debut: Round 18, Brisbane v. Bulldogs at Suncorp, 11 July 2003
First Grade Record: 44 appearances scoring 3 tries
Australia selection Tri-Nations 2006
Australian debut, Game 2 Tri-Nations

[edit] External links

Brisbane Broncos
The Club Representatives \| History \| Records \| Honours \| Players \| Venues
Seasons 1988 \| 1989 \| 1990 \| 1991 \| 1992 \| 1993 \| 1994 \| 1995 \| 1996 \| 1997 1998 \| 1999 \| 2000 \| 2001 \| 2002 \| 2003 \| 2004 \| 2005 \| 2006 \| 2007
Stadiums Lang Park/Suncorp Stadium \| ANZ Stadium
Captains Wally Lewis (1988-1989) \| Gene Miles (1990-1991) \| Allan Langer (1992-1999) Kevin Walters (1999-2000) \| Gorden Tallis (2001-2004) \| Darren Lockyer (2005-present)
Coaches Wayne Bennett (1988-present)