She's one of the best rugby league players in the world but Jillaroos fullback Sam Bremner has revealed a fear of failure almost stopped her football career before it even started.
Talking on the 'In her Court' podcast, Bremner said she had been playing the game for just 10 months when approached by Mark Riddell to play for New South Wales.
It was an advance she knocked back several times before some advice from her mother changed the course of her career.
"I got asked to play for my state and I said no several times," Bremner told host Sam Squiers.
"I felt out of my depth because of the late age I started. My mum said 'don't let the fear of failure get in your way, you are going to fail if you don't try'.
"I wasn't confident in my ability, I hadn't been playing for even one year. I was intimidated to go into a squad with girls who had been playing for 10-plus years and I'd been playing for 10 months.
"Riddell spoke to Graham Murray who was the coach of the Australian squad at the time, they coaxed me into it.
"That was the beginning of me finding my self-belief."
Bremner has been a mainstay in the NSW and Jillaroos teams ever since, helping Australia to their first World Cup in 2013.
In a revealing interview Bremner spoke openly about a traumatic accident her father suffered when she was just 12 years old, with doctors telling the family he had only hours to live.
"The doctors say he is a miracle, they've never seen anyone recover from an injury as severe. His fitness and his will to live got him through," she said.
"My dad has been such a role-model to me in so many different ways. He doesn't actually realise how influential he is, I wouldn't be who I am without him.
"He was so proud [when we won the World Cup], he had tears rolling down his eyes."
You can listen to the full interview below.
