A Conversation with Home-Coming Reds Star Lori Cramer

It’s been a while since I caught up with Lori, one of Queenslands brightest stars. Since our last chat, she’s literally been around the world and back. Fresh from a season at English club “Exeter”. (She’s also starred for the Wallaroos on the international stage a number of times, including the World Cup!)

Needless to say, it’s great having her back at Ballymore. Always up for a laugh, Lori and I had a great conversation, I hope you enjoy reading it! (Check out our previous interviews by clicking here and here.)

Lori was all smiles (and laughs) after training. She was joined by Jessi Luffman
and Susie Spann who are part of Kelvin Grove's Sports Excellence Program.

So awesome to see you tonight Lori. Last time we caught up at Ballymore was 2021.

You've switched sides since then, and even played for an England club called Exeter. How has your time away from Brisbane been?

Well, absolutely freezing. But apart from that, I've really enjoyed my time away. I've learned a lot more about set-piece. Because obviously, you know, northern hemisphere teams play a lot of… boring rugby. (Would you put it that way Tom?)

Yes, I guess I’d say that!

Well, there's a lot more detail in their game over there. The detail around set-piece is next level. I got asked the other day how rugby is in England… their women's team is selling out Twickenham Stadium. So it's a really exciting place to be for women's rugby at the moment. So I loved being a part of it. I learned a lot and I got to play with a lot of other international players. So, you know, I got some mates and I got accommodation all over the world, which is handy as well! You know, you’ve always got a place to stay when you play in a rugby team with someone. 

Exeter has an excellent reputation. What were some of your highlights from your time there?

Highlights. Um, well they got some really fun pubs over there. But um, getting to go to some Six Nations games, which was cool. And also, I guess I got to see some of my friends family homes. I got to go to Italy and I got to go to Ireland, I got to go to France and just see some friends and travel. Because, you know, Australia is so far away from Europe, so we don't really get over there much, but it takes like an hour to fly to a different country over there. And then it's like 20 bucks! Like, geez, you don't have to ask me twice. So yeah, it was really easy to get around and I loved it. I went to Greece for like 60 bucks. That was nuts! It's a good time over there. 

What an exciting time to return to Queensland. How were you finding everything, being back here, team, weather, etc? 

Well, last week we played Melbourne, in Geelong. (That's where Gracie is playing now.) It was horrendous, 35 degrees and humidity, times a thousand. I'm whingeing about the weather a lot, aren't I?!

But, I love being back, back living with my family. I haven't obviously lived here for a really long time. It's good to be able to go to school pick-ups and hang out with my nieces and yeah, I'm loving being home. So I don't know how long I'm going to stick around for in the long run, but I'm here for now and I'm loving it. The Broncos are doing good too. Did you watch the game last night Tom?

No. I do watch the odd league game, but I didn’t watch last nights one.

Who are some players to watch this year?

We've got Jess right here. She's a player to watch. Susie goes all right too... caught an absolute stellar high ball the other week. Um, I'm really excited to watch Shalom in our backline. You know, she's just a baby and she's an absolute weapon. She kind of gives me Alysia Lefau-Fakaosilea vibes. She's an incredible ball carrier, she's got instincts beyond her years, and just before, I think you saw it… we were having a kick and she drops a drop goal from the sideline and I was like, nah, man, I retire. Honestly, the Rugby in Australia is in really good hands, with players like that just coming through.

Agreed. Ballymore has had a facelift since you were last here. How cool is it? 

Yes, it's very fancy here. You know what? You need a key card to get in everywhere. It's very fancy. It's like. It's like the headquarters, you're doing your zap in here, and you got a keycard here, it’s face identity everywhere. No, that's not true, there's no face identity. That would be cool if there was.

It was great be invited to a team dinner, (before jersey presentation
with family and friends.)

But we’ve got a sauna in there, ice baths… yeah, it's it's legit. So obviously this is the home of the Wallaroos as well. So yeah, the facilities here are world class and I'm really excited that we get to use it three times a week.

What will the team be focused on against Fiji this weekend? 

Well… on defence. We gave away a lot of penalties last week, so definitely we're trying to get that down. 

Um, because yeah giving giving Fiji, you know, a walk into our 22 isn't going to be too much fun. So definitely work on our discipline, our offsides and getting into their passing lanes and trying to shut down their offloads. Obviously, they're, they like to keep the ball alive and offload the ball. So I guess making sure that we wrap the ball up in tackles and staying high in their passing channels so that they can't keep popping off to each other. And I guess in attack, just carrying hard and earning the right to go wide, because it can get really it can get easy to go sideways early if the space is there. But they're really good at tracking and grifting in defence as well. So she'll be an interesting Sunday afternoon, you'll be here. I've been telling everyone it's Saturday all week. I had an interview with channel nine news and I told him it was Saturday. What a shocker! [Laughs.]

Oh, is there a Roar game here? Oh, there you go. Yeah, well, everyone will be rocking up to the Roar game in reds gear. [Laughs.] Whoopsie!

What's your message for rugby fans at the start of Super W 2024?

[Whispers from the audience.] What? Do you’s want a shout out? Ah, the Reds women have, the two most incredible water-girls, in the world. Jessi and Susie.

It was great to meet the talented (and hilarious) Charli,
USA's latest and greatest import to Queensland

Uh, the message for rugby fans… Women's rugby is on the up. It’s exciting. Um, and honestly, our competition is about to blow up, especially with the World Cup coming up next year. I think this year, everyone's going to be digging deep and fighting hard and especially, the Wallaroos did really well last year at WXV 1. So everyone's had a lot of experience since last Super W. And yeah, I think we've got a lot of more internationals playing in our game now, which again will add a different element. And we've had a lot more games under our belt since last year, so the quality is only going to get better and better.

Thanks Lori, for taking time out at the start of a busy season. All the best to the Reds this season, I'll be cheering you on!

Yep, of course. Thanks for coming and sitting in the rain! I always love coming and hanging out with you, Tom. We always love seeing you here at training and at the games.