'His will and his want, his drive and his passion': Will Brimson remembers Liam Hampson

Liam Hampson inspires Will Brimson every day.

The Tweed five-eighth has many fond and entertaining memories of his close mate – memories of living together on the Gold Coast, fun-filled moments from their trip to Europe (perhaps some that are not safe for work), and Hampson’s questionable dress sense.

But it is another aspect of who Hampson was as a person that motivates Brimson daily.

“It was his will and his want, his drive and his passion for achieving his goals,” Brimson said of the impact Hampson had on him.

“Even when I first came down and played for Tweed, he had just started cracking (Hostplus) Cup. He had a whiteboard in his room with his goals and what he needed to eat or do every single day to achieve that.

“It was real inspiring to see that. I’m the opposite. I’m a bit older and maybe not as driven as I once was when I was younger but it was always very motivating.

“One thing I’ve taken out of this whole tragedy is I want to be happy. I want to be motivated.

“I want to keep pushing myself to achieve things that maybe I might have doubted myself with before. I want to be stoked with my life.

“I want to keep on pushing myself and just try to have a positive impact on everyone I come across. That’s what he could do so for people that meet me, I want them to have something positive to say about me.”

Brimson first met Hampson when he was about 15 and Hampson was 13.

At the time he mostly viewed him as a quiet kid who was just best mates with his younger brother, Queensland Maroons fullback AJ Brimson.

But over the years, as they all grew up, Hampson also grew in confidence and eventually became Brimson’s housemate, Tweed teammate, and good friend.

“When I first met Hampo he was a timid little boy,” Brimson said.

“He was just a mate of AJ’s and he was coming into a home with older teenagers as well. But as he got older, his confidence grew and he was one of the most confident people you’d ever meet.

“He was just a confident-slash-poorly-dressed person. He was just so high on life.

“He was the opposite of negative. I never, ever, ever in my life saw him stressed about anything.

“He didn’t earn a lot of money, he lived minimalistic but he was positive with whatever he did.

“He knew what he wanted and he was getting there. He was not far away from cracking an NRL gig, he almost had his teaching degree… it was looking so up for him.

“He had an infectious sense of humour. Obviously living with him, you grow those inside jokes and connections. He was positive, fun, funny. High on life.”

This weekend, Brimson will play for his mate, who tragically passed away in October last year, in the inaugural Hampson Cup.

The match between Hampson’s two clubs – Tweed and Redcliffe – will be played at Cbus Super Stadium and shown live and free on Qplus.tv, Kayo Freebies and 9Now.

Brimson was one of the people who was with Hampson in his final days. While it was a trip that ended in tragedy, it was also an overseas holiday that Brimson and their fellow travellers, including AJ and Brisbane Broncos duo Jordan Riki and Jesse Arthars, will always cherish.

The 27-year-old said there are many tales from that trip that he can’t repeat but that will stay with him as some of the best days he spent with Hampson.

Otherwise, his most overwhelming memory of the former teacher aide is his dress sense.

“He would religiously wear the worst kit and he’d think he was in the best kit,” Brimson said with a laugh.

“The rest of us when we’re going out, we’d all get dressed up and look super nice and he was daggy as.

“But you could never tell him he was in shit kit. Because he rocked it so well, he owned it.”

Brimson is also an ambassador for Hampo’s Youth Foundation, which was set up by Hampson’s family and will be the 50-50 raffle beneficiary in the Round 19 NRL fixture between the Gold Coast Dolphins and Dolphins NRL, which will be played after the Cup match.

He said the foundation, which was designed to help young kids reach their potential, providing scholarships to assist with education, sport and wellbeing, was the perfect fit for Hampson’s memory.

“Since they’ve announced it, there’s been nothing but positive vibes,” he said.

“Fitting is the perfect word for it. Everyone who knew Hampo knew what impact he had in the rugby league community but also to kids in school.

“He was almost graduated as a school teacher, almost finished his degree, and was doing teacher aide work and coaching in schools. He had such a positive, infectious vibe.

“I remember back in the day, he was working with after school care kids and my boss’ kids went there and he raved on about him and how much the kids loved him.

“That was who Hampo was. He was a bit of a larrikin but the most positive and high-on-life person.”