Farewell Sami Sauiluma ✍🏼 Michael Nunn

Coming from Canberra, Sauiluma heard the name Bears and, quite reasonably, assumed he was joining the North Sydney variety.

It was only after the move was organised that he discovered his new club was on the Gold Coast.

Nearly a decade, 170 games and three premierships later, it is hard to imagine the Bears without him.

Sauiluma arrived at Burleigh in 2016 looking for his next opportunity after spells with Canberra and Cronulla. What followed was a remarkable display of loyalty in a game where players regularly move from club to club.

He stayed.

Through different coaches, teammates and generations of Bears players, Sauiluma remained a constant.

His numbers tell part of the story.

He finished with 170 Bears appearances and 88 tries, making him the club’s all-time leading try-scorer. Across his 170 games an astounding 67.5 per cent winning record.

But the numbers only tell part of what made Sauiluma important to Burleigh.

He was a powerful runner, a reliable defender and a player capable of covering multiple positions. More importantly, he became one of the senior figures young Bears could learn from.

And he was there when the biggest moments came.

Sauiluma was part of three Burleigh premierships — 2016, 2019 and 2025 and is one of 11 players to win three or more Hostplus Cup premierships and the only player to play in three State Championship games.

The first came in his debut season.

Three years later, he helped the Bears to another Queensland Cup title.

Then, almost a decade after first arriving, he added a third premiership in 2025.

“I don’t have a favourite premiership; you love them all for different reasons,” Sauiluma said.

“The first we were all young, and just kids having fun,

“2019 we rebuilt and went again and then to finish off in 2025 with another one as an older player.

“I promised Toy Leo a premiership after he missed out in 2019 and it made me so happy in 2025.”

He wasn’t simply part of successful Burleigh teams. He remained through the rebuilding periods in between, continuing to pull on the Bears jersey year after year.

“The Gold Coast was like Vegas to me coming from Canberra we didn’t love the place straight away, but we loved the weather,” Sauiluma said.

“I thought we were going to North Sydney.

“We loved the players and club though, so many great teammates and eras.”

“We fell in love with Troy Leo and Pat Polotoni straight away.

“The Bears welcomed us and we have family camping trips with Bears mates every year.

“Those things are my highlights.”

I think Sami Sauiluma joined the right Bears after all.