It took one question from Sam Bremner's husband to coax her out of retirement, but four rounds for the Sydney Roosters fullback to start believing again.
Asked at the last minute to return by Tricolours coach John Strange, the 32-year-old mother of three's initial response was no.
"Then my husband comes home and he puts a real positive spin on everything," Bremner said.
"He's like: 'I get that you feel like you've done everything you possibly can, but have you won a premiership?'."
A World Cup winner and part of the NSW side that ended Queensland's 17 years of interstate dominance, Bremner has arguably just had her best fortnight of football.
She has scored more tries in the past two weeks than in the rest of her NRLW career, and is now preparing to play in her first grand final against Cronulla on Sunday.
"It took me four rounds to really get this hunger in my belly, and that's just a mindset thing for me," Bremner said.
"It was one of the reasons why I was so up in the air about returning, because I do things with purpose all the time.
"In my mindset, I was sort of going in here with 'I'm a replacement'. But I spoke to the couple of girls about it, to make me understand that I'm not a replacement.
"I need to really contribute to the team, and that built a bit of hunger in me that I'm not just here to fill a gap."
Bremner has already decided Sunday's game will be her last, and there will be no further backflips on retirement.
The No.1 is open to playing for the Jillaroos in the end-of-season Tests, but does not expect to be picked as coaches look towards the 2026 World Cup.
She has also already accepted a job at St George Illawarra next year, as their head of female football.
"I've had so much time to reflect on why I'm so much calmer this season ... and it's that I feel as though I don't have to prove anything to anyone else," Bremner said.
"Deep down, I know the main reason why I would come back (was to win a grand final), but I probably wouldn't voice it in that fear of failure.
"I've learnt from my previous season coming back that I had a good season, but mentally I became someone that I didn't really like.
"I was dealing with a lot of pressure I was putting on myself to get back in that Australian jersey.
"I didn't want to do that again, I wanted to enjoy my football. So the focus was for me, of course, to get to that grand final, but to really enjoy my football."
