GOT ROOM FOR ANOTHER BRIMSON?
WILL Brimson has rediscovered his love of rugby league and it’s led to a training stint with the Gold Coast Titans, where younger brother AJ has become a star.
Brimson was part of a Brisbane Broncos under-20 team that featured the likes of future Titans Ash Taylor, Jai Arrow and
Keegan Hipgrave before playing in the Intrust Super Cup with Wynnum Manly.
Then he decided to walk away from the game.
After a two-year hiatus the Tweed Heads Seagulls player is back and hoping to impress Titans coach Justin Holbrook.
WILL Brimson fell out of love with football.
Having been part of a Broncos under-20s team that featured NRL players Ash Taylor, Jai Arrow and Keegan Hipgrave, Brimson reached a point where he needed a change.
The older brother of Titans star AJ says he was almost lost to the game.
“My football journey started when I was 16 or 17,” Brimson said.
“I got contracted by the Broncos and then I went into under-20s and had three years there, then I signed with Wynnum Manly and played a year of QCup footy there and then for whatever reason I just decided to stop playing.
“I had two years off, 2018 and 2019.”
AJ Brimson says growing up, the brothers were competitive, especially when it came to football.
“Growing up with two older brothers, especially Will, we were pretty competitive and we all loved footy so every time that we got to be outside playing footy we’d be playing and I’d be crying because I’d lost,” he said.
“Back then I was still learning footy – I was more into touch footy – but for him to be at a club like the Broncos, that was definitely the first step in our family towards making that dream come true.”
While AJ went into the Titans system, Will exited the Broncos and found himself inside Ray Beaufil’s office.
Beaufil, who is a long-time Titans and Tweed Heads Seagulls supporter and partner, helped Will into an apprenticeship.
“When I stopped playing footy I started an apprenticeship pretty much straight away,” Will said.
“When I first came to see Ray for the interview he was telling me to get back into footy and I had no intention of coming back and playing.”
It was while working with Ray and learning his trade, that Will decided to give footy another crack.
AJ picks up the story ... “I’ve been trying to get him back in the game for two or three years now,” he said.
“I kept telling him ‘you know how fun it is’ and that ‘you miss it’ and it just happened that he knew the coach down at Tweed Ben Woolf and he invited him down for one session and I guess he felt the love just being around the boys in a team environment.”
After a season with the Seagulls, Will was selected to be part of the Titans NRL preseason.
With no guarantee of an NRL contract, Brimson has tested himself at the highest level just one year into his return to the game.
“I’ve never trained with the first grade fulltime boys before, so it’s been good to test myself both mentally and physically,” he said.
“I’m preparing well and just giving it my best shot.”
Beaufils says Will’s traits off the field shine through in how he plays his footy.
“He’s honest, hard working and you can’t fault this guy at all,” he said.
“He’s been given the chance to have a step up and we appreciate that and back him all the way.”
The older Brimson says he has been inspired by his younger brother and is back enjoying rugby league.
“Not just being his brother, but he (AJ) is pretty inspiring,” Will said.
“For his club, for his state ... he is a weapon player and he deserves everything.
“He works really, really hard and he has had a few pretty major setbacks and for him to come back and be even better than he was, that speaks a lot about his character.”
So is there a chance we might see two Brimson brothers lining up in Titans colours?
“It’s good to see him back, he’s only had one year back and now he is doing an NRL pre-season so he’s obviously doing something right,” AJ says.
“With the Titans, I’m only training up until Christmas,” Will explains.
“If I could get an extension, even until the trials, that would be ideal but if not I’ll head back to Tweed and continue to keep working hard.”
Whether it is as a Titan or a Seagull, the good news is Will Brimson will be playing footy in 2021 and has re-discovered his love for the game.