An Australian international and Queensland State of Origin representative second-row, he could also play prop and lock as well as hooker and spent all of his career at the Broncos, with whom he won the 2006 premiership.

He played junior rugby league for the Brothers club in Townsville as well as attending Kirwan State High School.

His mother, Julie Thaiday, grew up in rural Western Australia and also served in the Royal Australian Air Force.

[7] Thaiday was signed in 2002 by the Brisbane Broncos after coach Wayne Bennett watched him brawl with Sonny Bill Williams and Tom Learoyd-Lahrs in an under-17s interstate game.

[8] On 11 July 2003, aged 18, he made his National Rugby League debut for the Broncos against the Bulldogs in round 18 of the 2003 NRL season.

Solid form in the first 10 weeks of the Broncos season earned Thaiday a spot on the Queensland bench for game one of the 2006 State of Origin series.

Thaiday was selected for his international debut for the Australian national team in Game 2 of the 2006 Tri-Nations against New Zealand after concussion ruled Willie Mason out.

As 2006 NRL Premiers, the Brisbane Broncos travelled to England to face 2006 Super League champions, St Helens R.F.C.

In the 2007 NRL season Thaiday suffered an injury to the bone around his eye socket and missed all three games of the 2007 State of Origin series for the Queensland Maroons while waiting to recover.

In a Round 2 match against the New Zealand Warriors, with regular goal kickers Darren Lockyer and Corey Parker missing from the side, Thaiday stepped up to take 2 conversion attempts, making 1 of them.

Thaiday struggled to find a place in the Broncos side in 2007, bouncing from between the bench and the starting back row while also lining up at lock and five-eighth.

For the 2010 ANZAC Test, Thaiday was selected to play for Australia at second-row forward and was named man of the match in its victory against New Zealand.

During his career, Thaiday was often attacked for how he plays the game, most notably his tendency to enter brawls and scuffles late to "protect" his teammates.

In Game 2, Luke O'Donnell performed a dangerous tackle that sparked an all-in brawl, the likes of which hadn't been seen for several years.

[11] In a 2010 NRL game, between the Broncos and the North Queensland Cowboys, Thaiday again came under criticism, again for entering a fight as the "Third-man-in" (though technically he was fourth).

The NRL match review committee chairman Greg McCallum issued Thaiday a warning for his repeat infringements and threatened him with a ban.

On 3 November 2011 The annual RLIF Awards dinner was held at the Tower of London and Thaiday was named second-row forward of the year.

An inconsistent season saw the Broncos miss the finals for the first time since 2010, with Thaiday criticised for not getting the team on track for "Life after Locky".

He featured 5 times for Australia in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup, playing a key role in their success.

Thaiday was again moved from his standard second-row position, this time playing Lock in the back half of the season, as the Broncos again finished eighth and again were eliminated in the first week by the Cowboys.

Thaiday dressed as an elderly man and had called a press conference outside a Brisbane retirement home to confirm he would draw the curtain on his 16-season career.

Thaiday's last regular-season match was played in front of a sellout crowd at Suncorp Stadium, as fans watched the Broncos defeat Manly.

The Broncos returned to Suncorp a week later in an Elimination Final match with the St George Illawarra Dragons.