By Billie Eder
Roosters fullback Sam Bremner has almost done it all.
She’s won a World Cup with the Jillaroos, a State of Origin series with NSW, and she’s had three children while doing it. But the one thing missing on her resume is an NRLW premiership.
Sam Bremner (left) with teammate Keeley Davis after winning their NRLW semi-final against the Knights.Credit: NRL Images
It’s also the one goal Bremner had accepted would remain beyond her, having retired after three previous seasons in the NRLW in 2018, 2020 and 2022. But then Roosters fullback Corban Baxter went down with an ACL injury – and coach John Strange picked up the phone to the veteran No. 1.
“When ‘Strangey’ called me and asked me if I would come back, it was a no from me,” Bremner says. “I was just so happy doing what I was doing, and happy with how I left my career at the World Cup.
“I said [to Strange], I’ll have a think about it, I’ll call you in the morning. He’s like, ‘Well, we need to know pretty quickly’, and I was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll call you in the morning’. So then my husband [Wayne] comes home, and he puts a real positive spin on everything, and he’s like, ‘I get that you feel like you’ve done everything you possibly can, but have you won a premiership?’
“And he knew the answer to that. I was like, ‘No, I haven’t’. He’s like, ‘Well, you’re at a good chance, and all your best mates are there, and this could be it, this could really make you have done it all’. And so that was sort of like the thing, go back and play with my best mates – and now here I am in grand final week. It’s pretty good.”
With two crucial tries, Bremner was an integral part of the 25-16 victory against Newcastle in the semi-final last Sunday, and will make her first NRLW grand final appearance when the Roosters take on the Sharks for the premiership on Sunday.
“If I’m really honest with you guys, it took me four rounds to really get this hunger in my belly, and that’s just a mindset thing for me,” Bremner said. “In my mindset, I was sort of going in here with, ‘I’m a replacement’.
“It sort of took me a couple of rounds to make me understand that I’m not a replacement. I need to really contribute to the team, and that sort of built a bit of hunger in me that I’m not just here to fill a gap, I can actually help these girls achieve what we all want to achieve.”
The fear of failure also stopped Bremner dreaming about that elusive premiership.
“Deep down, I know that that is the main reason why I would come back [to win a grand final], but I probably wouldn’t voiced it in that fear of failure,” she says. “And I’ve always been like that. I’ve always had a fear of failure, I’m a really high achiever ... and I knew that with returning, I would want to be the best again, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to put that pressure on myself, my team or my family.”
Sam Bremner with two of her kids after round two of the 2024 NRLW against the Broncos.Credit: NRL Images
But now with just 80 minutes standing between Bremner and that coveted premiership, she has allowed herself to dream.
“For me, it’s about the experience” she says. “I have just envisioned the whole car ride up here [from her home in Wollongong], my kids being a part of this, being on that stage when we win, lifting the trophy with them, them running around on the field.
“I think the experience as a whole would definitely go to the top. Of course, a ring and the trophy, and the fact that I can say I won a premiership is great. But the whole experience for not only me, but my family and then others looking to, I guess, have a journey similar to mine, the feeling of that will go right up there.”
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