 A halfback, Thicknesse was renowned for his passing game and was selected in Eastern Suburbs 'Team Of The Century'.Dally Messenger once said of Viv Thicknesse that "he rated him the equal of any half he had seen play the game".In February 2008, Thicknesse was named in the list of Australia's "100 Greatest Players" (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the NRL and ARL to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia.