Yvonne Sampson

With a little help of a chance encounter between her taxi-driving father and former NRL player Wendell Sailor, Sampson began her career as a cadet reporter at the Seven Network’s regional news service, Seven Local News on the Sunshine Coast working one day a week, while juggling her studies at the Queensland University of Technology and employment with the Eagle Farm Equine Hospital.

Upon completion of her studies, Sampson joined the network permanently as a sports reporter, working throughout the state in cities such as Maryborough, Mackay and Townsville before returning to the Sunshine Coast to also becoming a studio presenter. In 2012, Sampson returned to Queensland, joining the Nine Network in Brisbane. In January 2014, Sampson was offered the opportunity to return to Sydney to be more extensively involved with Nine’s Wide World of Sports coverage including presenting the sport on Nine News Sydney.

While Sampson was at Nine she hosted Nine’s Friday Night Rugby League coverage and was also a sideline commentator for Thursday Night Football and Sunday Football. In September 2015, she hosted Nine’s new NRL talk show Footy Classified NRL Finals. In 2016, she became the host of the Sunday Footy Show, replacing long time host Peter Sterling. The same year, Sampson also became the first woman to anchor the network’s State of Origin coverage. In December 2016, she signed a multi year deal with Fox Sports. It was announced that she would host the network’s Thursday and Saturday night rugby league coverage and also host a new weekly show called League Life.