How Sam Verrills persevered through injuries, bad luck and bad timing to forge a career in the NRL

One of the brightest young talents in the game, Verrills has been a part of the Roosters system for five years since joining from Manly’s juniors, and appeared to be a huge part of the club’s future No.9 plans once Jake Friend retired.

But a string of injuries – ranging from standard stuff through to the bizarre – reduced him to just 44 games over the past four seasons. And in response the club signed Kiwis hooker Brandon Smith from Melbourne from 2023 onwards.

That announcement was made controversially in December 2021, almost a full year out from the start of the Storm star’s deal with the Roosters.

It means Verrills has been staring at the writing on the wall all season – only just finalising a two-year deal to join Gold Coast from next year.

“Obviously it’s tough when a club signs another player ahead of you, but I know the quality of player Brandon is, he’s a great player, he’s a great competitor,” Verrills tells CODE Sports.

“It was hard but it made me really drive in trying to be a better player as well.

“The whole year I’ve known he’s coming but that’s next year as well, so I couldn’t really think too much into it.

“It was heavy but it’s a business at the end of the day, and the club made that decision to go that way and I can’t get angry at it.

“I’ve been injured for the past few years so I can see why they’ve done it, it was unfortunate because I love this club so much. But I can’t control it, it is what it is.”

If he sounds disappointed, it’s because in the harsh business of the NRL, cut-throat decisions on rosters and playing careers are made every day. At 23, Verrills is still at the very beginning of his.

“I’ve spent five years here, it feels like home. I can’t thank [coach Trent Robinson] and the playing staff enough. They brought me in and made me feel so comfortable,” he says.

“It’s one big family here so I will miss them, but at the end of the day I’ve got to look after myself. It was a tough decision, but with Brandon coming here next year it was always going to be hard for me to stay. It’s a really exciting opportunity for me.

“I can see so much potential in the Gold Coast.”

The choice to leave was about longevity, and finding a place where he can flourish, hopefully capped off with another premiership for the Roosters at the end of this season.

Verrills has been a huge part of the push to the finals as the Roosters sit on a five-game winning streak, threatening the rest of the competition with title form.

“We’re going into a pretty busy time at the moment with the club and I can’t be thinking about next year, so that’s why I’m so glad that I got the contract all done, signed and all done so now I can focus on really pushing forward to the finals,” he says.

“We’re all just playing together again. I’ve been injured, Luke Keary’s been out a few times, [James Tedesco] had his tough Origin period … we worked really hard in the pre-season working things out and it didn’t pay off at the start of the year but it’s slowly coming together now.

“We’ve won five in a row now so it’s the right time of the year to win games. We’re definitely clicking and we’ve all bought in to what we know we can do towards the back end of the year.”

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A meeting with Justin Holbrook sealed the deal for Verrills to join the Titans. He’ll form part of a rejuvenated team on the Gold Coast from next season with Manly veteran Kieran Foran joining the club, adding strike to the ferocious forward pack led by Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and David Fifita.

His old Roosters teammate Isaac Liu tipped in a few words of encouragement too.

“I told Justin that he’s the reason why I’m going up there,” he says.

“They’ve had some bad results this year and been unfortunate, but I know how good of a coach he is.

“The meeting I had with him, I told my manager straight away that he’s someone I really want to play for and if it wasn’t going to be the Roosters, it would be him.”

The move up north means leaving his long-term partner Jade Bourke behind on the Northern Beaches as she finishes a master of chiropractic degree over the next 18 months. The couple grew up down the street from each other in Avalon and have been inseparable since their early teens.

“It is hard, it makes me think about it. But at the end of the day, it’s my career, the NRL is only a short career and you only get a short amount of time,” he says.

“It is tough but you’ve got to think about yourself really, and she’s very supportive and she really wants the best for me as well and I’m thankful that I have her to be honest.”

She has been a huge source of support for Verrills through his disrupted career so far.

“I had the ACL in 2020, and then the detached retina … a few other things, the thumb, the collar bone,” he says.

He was at real risk of losing his eyesight in 2021 with the semi-detached retina. And in a case of terrible timing, it happened just as he was making a return to the field from his ACL injury.

“It was random, I was just watching TV one day at home and I noticed a bit of blurry vision out of my left eye, so I shut my right eye and I noticed I couldn’t see anything,” he explains.

“I played two games with it. It was my comeback game from my ACL and I didn’t want to pull out before my return.

“I played the Dragons in my comeback game on Anzac Day with the detached retina and then I played again the next week against Newcastle.

“After that I said to my doc, ‘My eye is really bad and I can’t see out of it’.

“We got it checked up and then he rushed into surgery that night, so that was a really weird, scary time. I wasn’t sure if I’d get my vision back.”

In case there was any doubt about the quality of the man, he apologised to his teammates and Robinson at the time. He felt like he was letting them down with the limited time he’d spent on the field.

“When you sign up for rugby league you sign up for getting injured as well,” he says.

“You can’t think you’re going to have the best career without getting injured, so mentally you’ve got to be strong.

“I’ve got a pretty good support team around there with my girlfriend and my mum and dad and brothers, and all my mates back at home as well.

“They all get behind me and that’s outside of footy, when I get here I’ve got some really close friends at the club. I really lean on some of the senior boys here at the Roosters and it’s such an enjoyable club to be a part of.

“It’s a really proud club. It’s always special to put the jersey on and you always want to represent well every time you play.”