Brad Thorn, a man clearly in possession of some kind of Philosopher's Stone, may well be striding onto a rugby pitch again. Thorn will be placing his behind on a rather unfamiliar surface - the substitutes' bench - for Queensland in their Australian NRC game against the Western Sydney Rams.
Thorn, now 41, retired after the 2014-15 season - which he spent at Leicester Tigers - and following a career of 460 professional games, 21 seasons and 17 major trophies across rugby union and rugby league (including Super Rugby and Heineken Cup titles as well as a World Cup).
In August, countless reports suggested Thorn might be set to dust down the boots and make a comeback. He was named as the assistant coach for Queensland but, like a dad organising a kickabout in the park, you got the sense that the itch still hadn't been scratched for the New Zealand legend.
We can't expect big Brad to be the same as he was during his heyday, when he was eating the best forwards in the world for breakfast and helping Leinster win Heineken Cups.
He has since been seen snacking on reality TV stars to try and quell his urges to assert masculine dominance, but if all goes well he will begin the second chapter of his career tomorrow.
Here's to another two decades of Brad Thorn.
