He represented the New South Wales Police rugby league team and the Sydney Colts.
Souths lost the grand final to Eastern Suburbs 19–3 in front of 22,106 people at Sydney Cricket Ground.
[4] It wasn't until round 11 that Thorne scored his first career try, although his team ended up losing 15–16 to the Jets.
In his first game of the season, Thorne scored three tries off the interchange, despite being absent from playing since August, 1937.
Thorne played one representative game for the New South Wales Police in a 10–7 win against Sydney Firsts in April, 1936.