‘It makes me feel sick’: Sharks and Blues Emma Verran’s cancer scare warning

Former Olympian and NRLW star Emma Verran is one of the lucky ones. She opens up about playing State of Origin after being diagnosed with melanoma and her warning for young girls who idolise her.

Sharks NRLW star Emma Verran has opened up about her melanoma scare. Picture: Justin Lloyd

NSW and Cronulla star Emma Verran was reluctant to share her melanoma diagnosis, but as soon as she hit publish on an Instagram post earlier this month, support flooded her inbox.

Messages from people who have lost loved ones to deadly skin cancers, people who have stopped procrastinating and booked in for potentially lifesaving skin checks, concerned teammates.

The 30-year-old former Olympian, who played three games of this year’s State of Origin series knowing she had a melanoma on her back, has an impressionable audience of young women across the country.

And by telling her story, she wants the truth of the dangers of sun damage and importance of protection to find those who need to hear it.

SPEAKING UP

She’s concerned mostly for a scary trend of sunbaking with no protection among young women.

“I see all the tan line trends and stuff,” she tells The Daily Telegraph.

“And it just makes me feel a bit sick, to be honest. Even friends of mine who don’t wear sunscreen. They’re literally so silly.”

Verran has spent her adult life playing sports outside across either rugby sevens and now in the NRLW.

Earlier this year she had a mole cut out of her upper back that was later diagnosed as melanoma.

According to statistics from Melanoma Institute Australia, it’s the most common cancer for Australians aged between 20-39.

And since 2021, it’s the country’s 11th most deadly form of cancer.

“Growing up, mum was always like, you need to put sunscreen on,” she says.

“I actually have a bit of a bad reaction to this one ingredient in normal sunscreen. So I always have to have a mineral sunscreen.

“And I used to hate fake tan. I used to think it looked so gross.

“Whereas now I’m all for it. But yeah, I feel like I definitely had a couple of years where I probably just wanted to be brown. I wanted to be tan.

“Whereas now I know it’s so important to stay in the shade and sit under an umbrella and wear sunscreen. Definitely as I’ve gotten older, I’m massive on sun protection.”

A LUCKY BREAK

Verran is one of the lucky ones.

A series of events lined up just right for her to catch the cancer at the earliest possible time.

She had been worried about a mole in the middle of her back, which she says was nothing ‘crazy’, and had her husband Jamie taking pictures of it so she could monitor it.

But she had a weird feeling about it.

Tiana Penitani Gray and Verran celebrate a Blues victory. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

She’d been putting off a skin check until she spotted an Australian Skin Cancer Foundation bus at an NRL event back in April, and managed to snap up the very last appointment of the day.

They suggested she see a doctor urgently, who then cut the whole thing out at Verran’s request, just as she was starting NSW Origin training.

That decision proved crucial in allowing her to play out the winning Origin series with the Blues.

“They said I might not hear back for another month,” she explains.

“But three days later, they called me and said, ‘It’s come back as melanoma, you need to come and get more skin out. Can you come today?’” she explains.

“I was like, ‘Today? No. I’m in Origin camp’.

“She was just like, ‘No, this is really important’. I was like, ‘Yeah, Origin is really important.’

“We went back and forth a bit but I asked if I could leave it until the end of the series, about five weeks, and she agreed but I had to get more skin cut out straight afterwards.”

Verran with her husband Jamie at the 2024 Dally M Awards. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Game three in Newcastle was on May 29, and she went in for a further excision on June 5.

Her earlier decision to cut it out rather than have shavings tested saved her precious time.

“I was just worried about the implications, every other mole kept popping up my body. I was like, is this cancer? What’s happening?” she says of playing through the series.

“And then once I saw the plastic surgeon, he kind of like checked everything and reassured me.”

THE PATH AHEAD

Verran will undergo checks every six months for the next few years to make sure it hasn’t re-emerged.

It’s not the most comfortable thing to talk about, but she sees the importance of using her platform.

“It could just be even those couple of weeks or a month in between getting a skin check could really make a difference. And honestly, it takes like 10 minutes so quick,” she says.

“I wasn’t going to share anything because I’m just not really like that, and I didn’t want a big deal out of it.

“And then I was talking to one of the girls at training and she encouraged me to share, to tell everybody.

“And she was like, honestly, like you made me book in to get my skin checked.

“So many people have messaged me saying, I’ve booked mine, thank you for sharing, and telling me their stories of people who have been diagnosed or passed away from melanoma.”

The scar on Verran’s back. Picture: Supplied

It’s made the whole ordeal worthwhile for Verran, who at her core, thrives on helping those who need it.

For now, she continues her work with Cronulla, were she works to deliver community programs across the shire.

“I just love seeing people like have a good time and engage with rugby league and just like the smiles on their faces,” she says.

“And they’re so passionate about the Sharks and it’s just awesome to see.

“It fills my cup up and kind of brings me back down to earth too.”

Originally published as ‘It makes me feel sick’: Sharks and Blues Emma Verran’s cancer scare warning