SAM Thaiday is used to being recognised and stopped wherever he goes.
Of Torres Strait Island descent and standing at 181 centimetres with 110 kilograms of solid muscle, and trademark long, curly locks, he tends to stand out in a crowd.
But on his recent trip to Tasmania, he was able to travel almost incognito, and those who did recognise him were interstate tourists.
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He is the captain of the National Rugby League team the Brisbane Broncos.
An NRL premiership winner in 2006, he has been named the best second-rower at the prestigious Dally M awards for the last two years, is in the indigenous league team of the century, is a State of Origin regular for Queensland and has represented Australia 16 times.
The 26-year-old was in Tasmania for a preseason match against Melbourne Storm last Saturday at the North Hobart Oval. Recently married, Thaiday and wife Rachel took two days after the match to travel around and take in as much of the state as time would allow.
Thaiday said he was surprised by the scenery of Tasmania and particularly enjoyed the drive from Hobart to Launceston up the East Coast, stopping at coastal towns like Scamander and Bicheno along the way. ``I think coming up along the coast from Hobart was really nice, you have the best of both worlds there, with farmland and the coastline as well. It was kind of weird seeing sheep and having the coastline right there,'' he said.
``I was surprised at how good the beaches are here in Tasmania. I am used to some of the best beaches in the world in Queensland, but there are some good beaches here. Maybe you could just do something about the temperature.''
With limited time in Launceston, the couple started their quick tour with a trip to the iconic Cataract Gorge which included a walk through the First Basin and across the suspension bridge before enjoying a ride on the chairlift.
``The Basin was really good, it's quite weird that it is really close to the city and the town centre - usually you have to travel a fair way to visit special places like that,'' he said.
Finally before they flew out, the Thaidays embarked on a whirlwind wine tour of the Tamar Valley, stopping at vineyards like: Strathlyn, the Iron Pot and Tamar Ridge. Although Thaiday said he was having a break from drinking, he said he did enjoy a good Shiraz and hoped to return to Tasmania in the future and do a proper wine tour and explore more.
``I think if we do come back we will spend a bit more time. Two days wasn't really enough to try and fit everything in,'' he said.
It is going to be a big year for Thaiday, newly married and in his first season of captaincy, but he was excited and nervous about what the year would bring.
``I have very high hopes for the year. We've done all the hard work now, so all we can do is start playing and hope all the hard work we have done off the field, will pay dividends on the field,'' he said.
Thaiday said with the overwhelming local support of more than 11,000 attendees at the North Hobart Oval, he was open to the idea of bringing another match to the state.
``I would like to come back and play a regular game here, even if we made it a regular preseason thing,'' he said.
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