Cameron Cullen on how his Gold Coast Titans NRL debut changed his life

Cameron Cullen’s NRL debut came at a difficult time on a personal level; that game against the Sharks changed his life forever.

“IT changed my life.”

Cameron Cullen faced some understandably difficult times following the death of his older brother Justin in a freak accident while holidaying in the Maldives in 2015.

Cullen moved back to the Gold Coast, where he played junior footy for Bilambil and Tweed Coast, to link up with Burleigh the following season.

Six rounds in, he was making the NRL debut he had forever dreamt of, for his hometown team.

Playing in the Titans halves alongside Ash Taylor, the then 22-year-old didn’t take long to make his mark, taking on the Cronulla defensive line in trademark fashion and beating Sharks fullback Ben Barba to score a try on debut.

“My whole family were in that corner of the stadium where I scored so it was pretty special,” Cullen recalled.

Cameron Cullen in action against the Warriors. Picture: Getty Images

The occasion on the whole was a time he will never forget.

“For Neil Henry to give me that opportunity, it changed my life,” he said.

“Everyone that plays football has an ultimate goal to get to the NRL and it’s not an easy task. The majority of people that play rugby league never even get close and for me, I had been around that scene for years.

“I did my first pre-season as a 17-year-old straight out of high school with the Broncos and I had been in NRL squads every year since and I could never get a crack.

“It’s a mix of commitment, discipline but also a little bit of luck to be able to get your NRL debut.

Cullen later played five NRL games for the Sea Eagles. Picture: AAP Image

“For that whole time (you have been working towards that dream) to culminate in one game, one week, where I got told on the Tuesday that I was playing, all the way through to the game, it’s that special sense of achievement.

“It was under circumstances where my life was a bit of a mess so it was a real light for me at the time, a real positive in my life. It was a great experience.”

Cullen played five games for the Titans but had to wait until his third match for Manly in 2017 to finally celebrate his maiden win, a 28-16 result against the Tigers: “It was something that I wanted to get off my back, for sure.”

HIS NRL games tally might have stopped at 10 but Cameron Cullen still has an ambition burning from deep within.

The 25-year-old five-eighth was a pivotal figure in Burleigh’s 2016 Intrust Super Cup premiership campaign. After a season down south, he returned to captain Redcliffe to title glory last year.

Cameron Cullen during Burleigh’s victorious 2016 ISC decider. Picture: SMP Images

“The one at Burleigh, it was a pretty bad time in my life but we had such a great bunch of players and it was such a fun experience. To get that win was so good,” he said.

“Then for me to come back at Redcliffe, I was in a different mindset, I was in a different stage of my life – I’d had a kid in between all of that.

“To come back from Manly and win another comp with Redcliffe, it was just as special.”

Back-to-back trophies at the Dolphins was firmly on his mind until a year-ending anterior cruciate ligament injury struck this pre-season.

Redcliffe Dolphins captain Cameron Cullen after the 2018 ISC grand final.

“I had my heart set on going back-to-back this year and I never got to do that obviously because of my ACL,” said Cullen, who works in real estate.

“I have got a burning desire to win another competition and then who knows what I’ll do.”

So with that in sight, Cullen is rehabbing hard towards 2020 in between helping out on the development front at Redcliffe.

“It’s frustrating obviously not to play. It’s the first time I have ever had to sit out a full season,” the father-of-two said.