“Obviously from my playing career, in league or union, I wasn’t the bloke scoring lots of tries or flash stuff, I was the bloke hitting breakdowns and doing hit-ups and doing more of the team stuff.

“I have been big on team here. I don’t really know what to say.”

Thorn said Wallabies staff had been welcomed into Reds training throughout the year, and Queensland even shared staff with RA.

“We had [Wallabies coach] Dave Rennie in here yesterday, [Wallabies defence coach] Matt Taylor was here on Monday, we have staff that work with RA, [strength and conditioning coach] Damien Marsh, a dietician who works with both of us,” Thorn said.

“You could go all day about the connections. [Wallabies scrum coach] Petrus [du Plessis] was in twice this year, ‘Wisey’ [Wallabies attack coach Scott Wisemantel] has been in.”

The critique of Thorn was in a Herald story in which the former World Cup-winning All Black and Kangaroos forward said he’d be interested in putting his hat in the ring for the Wallabies coaching job in the future.

“I would like to think most Super Rugby coaches in Australia would say they hold the Wallabies and the Wallabies coaching [job] in high esteem, and it would be an honour and a privilege and a responsibility if you ever got that opportunity,” Thorn said on Thursday.

“But you have to earn the right. Sometime down the track, who knows? Maybe you are not coaching at all, you are doing something else with your life. Maybe if you stay in coaching it may be a positive thing to represent your country in that way.

“That’s the words I have said and my name is next to it. It is unfortunate I have to stand here and it’s on me to talk about it.”

Marinos said the Wallabies are happy with Rennie and the speculation about his role was premature.

“We appreciate that there is great interest in the Wallabies coaching position. As an organisation, we want the role to be highly sought-after among quality coaches. It is a prestigious position in Australian sport and World Rugby. However, currently there is absolutely no discussion about the future of the position,” Marinos said in a statement.

“We have a Wallabies coach – and we are happy with our coach. There is no ‘heir apparent’. Dan McKellar provides a specific skill set as the team’s forwards coach under Dave Rennie – and that is the role that he has been appointed to.

“We will continue to work closely with our Super Rugby clubs on better alignment and unity of purpose within our high-performance structures to collectively drive success from the clubs through to the Wallabies.”

Thorn was happier talking about selection news, specifically the return of Suliasi Vunivalu and the shock call-up of former Wallabies skipper Stephen Moore for a week as injury cover at hooker.

Moore, 39, retired from professional rugby in 2017 but has kept playing club rugby in Brisbane and was asked by Thorn to be an emergency option given a spate of injuries in his hooker ranks. Moore is not expected to play, unless more disaster strikes.

“It is a cool thing, having an experienced guy like that, 100-plus Test player, 100-plus Super Rugby player and a loyal Queenslander – it’s good to have him around,” Thorn said.

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Returning from a sixth hamstring injury in two seasons, Vunivalu will be playing in just his eighth Super Rugby game.

“I just want to see him get out and play some footy,” Thorn said. “Footy is not about endless training and rehab, it’s about playing. So, hopefully going into this game he just goes out and enjoys a game of footy. That’s a good result in my opinion.”

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