“My body’s been calling me for a while” – Dom Brambani retires

Veteran half-back Dom Brambani has called time on his career.

The 36-year-old playmaker has made almost 400 career appearances for Castleford, Halifax, Sheffield, Dewsbury, Batley and Hunslet. He has also represented Italy on the international stage.

Dom Brambani said: “I must admit the last few matches have gone well for me personally, but I’d already made my mind up.

“My body’s been calling me for a while now and I can’t really carry on at this level. It takes me until Thursday after games to recover and get back to normal.

Taking its toll

“In all honesty it’s time to call it a day. I’m 36 years old now, I’ve played nearly 400 games and that’s had its effect – no one can beat father time.

Brambani added: “My decision predated Gary Thornton’s sacking – although that didn’t exactly help – and then I got Covid which ruled me out for a while this year and which knocked me for six.

“Alan Kilshaw (Hunslet coach), to be fair to him, has been great. He kept in close contact with me throughout my self-isolation and helped be through a difficult period. But it’s time for me to call the curtain on professional rugby league.

“I worried about doing another pre-season of training three nights a week, with the real possibility (bearing in mind that I’ve increasingly been picking up niggles after games) that after signing a contract I might well have subsequently been sidelined from matches. That certainly wouldn’t have been fair on Hunslet.

“It was a strange feeling at the end of the game against Doncaster in our elimination semi-final. I went into the match aiming to win, not contemplating defeat, and when the final hooter went the reality dawned on me that this was actually my last professional rugby league.”

Brambani was part of the Sheffield side that stunned Featherstone 20-16 in the 2012 Championship Grand Final.