The Natural

With special guests:

• Brendan Morris & Stephan Wellink
  … in conversation with Bill Kable

The Thornetts, a band of brothers as Shakespeare might have called them.

Today we explore what makes a champion when we hear about a sporting giant from 1960’s Australia, namely Richard, or as he was more commonly known, Dick Thornett.

Dick was the youngest in a family of champions. Dick’s oldest brother was John who became the Captain of the Australian Rugby team, the Wallabies. Under John, the Wallabies had a legendary tour of South Africa. The next brother Ken also played Rugby at a representative level but is best known for his Rugby League abilities. Starting his Rugby League career in England he became known as the Mayor of Leeds before he came back to Australia representing Parramatta and Australia in the Kangaroos.

Dick is called “the Natural” because he was so good at any sport he turned his hand to. After representing Australia in water polo at the 1960 Olympics in Rome he went on to represent Australia in two very different sports namely Rugby and Rugby League.

The main focus in The Natural is on Dick Thornett. What comes through apart from Dick’s sporting achievements is what a likeable fellow he was. His brothers loved him, his three daughters loved him, his customers at various hotels he owned all loved him, other sporting giants such as Keith Miller, the legendary cricketer, loved him. Even his ex-wife stayed friends with him until the day he died.

In this program we get to hear some great stories from those who knew Dick well. The stories are told against the background of the 60’s, a turbulent time in Australia and the world. Brendan and Stephan have done a wonderful service in keeping alive the story of Dick Thornett and a family of champions.

Brendan Morris & Stephan Wellink

Brendan Morris has been a Senior English teacher for over 35 years having taught his passion to his students from Year 7 to Year 12 Extension.

Brendan’s love of literature and sport helped weave together a story that focused on Richard’s’s achievements and his life through both an objective and emotionally subjective lens. Brendan’s is married to Richard’s daughter, Sophie and this enabled him to present an insight into Richard’s life in a personal, close yet sensitive way.

Stephan Wellink pursues his passion for filmmaking as a writer, producer and director with Inkwell Films, a company he founded in 2015. His award-winning documentaries have screened at prestigious film festivals, on free-to-air television and subscription streaming platforms in many parts of the world. Stephan’s screen credits include: Rod Taylor: Pulling No Punches (2016), Jerry Lewis: The Man Behind the Clown (2016), Sam Spiegel: Conquering Hollywood (2018), Pushing the Boundaries: The Mavis Bramston Show (2022) and The Sculpture (2023), which was acquired by SBS Australia.

Stephan’s interest in the history of sport in Australia and in particular the two rugby codes, led him to partnering with Brendan Morris to write the biography of the Australian triple international sportsman, Richard ‘Dick’ Thornett.

Song selection by our guests: King of the Road by Roger Miller

Podcast (mp3)