CTE: Former NRL players speak out about dementia nightmare (Interview)

In 2018, #NRL researchers gave struggling Newcastle Knights hero Robbie O’Davis a brain scan. He hoped it would explain his changing behaviour. For five years he says the truth was not shared with him.
The Weekend Australian has spoken to numerous former players, their partners and their families, unravelling the growing "epidemic" of brain injuries in the code. The question remains: where is the support when they're no longer on the pitch?
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[@jackthelab6755]

What about all the men who played league at a juinor level and didn't make 500k a year at NRL level

[@Cashewnutter112]

HIA are great but NRL needs to do more to support retired players.

[@JRTIGER07]

Wow those NRL games brought back Memories from An Ex League player from New Zealand totally Respect anybody that plays a Full 80mins of League week in and week out ..R.I.P brother Paul Green God bless your Wife & Kids 🙏 Lost a Great player & Man 🙏 respect from New Zealand 🇳🇿🕊🕊🕊🇳🇿

[@rashneelwalla380]

Ex bum

[@locominyana8916]

​@@rashneelwalla380wipe your bum before you drink water.

[@gattingbowledwarne]

Now the king, fenech and Corey Parker. And you still get Gould saying the new head high rules are ruining the game.

[@freedomofchoicelover3734]

As a former player all through my juniors and some rep, I ended up in hospital a couple of times after spear tackles, after playing league at stages 7 days a week, in between club, schoolboys and rep, 7 days a week with your brain bouncing around in your head and clashes...in hindsight......catastrophic....now in my 50s ive tried to get brain scans etc as i ended up on disability, PTSD, major depressions and anxieties, but it costs money to follow through, memory loss is major now, forgetting most of my childhood games, including all the important ones, now forgetting the movie i watched yesterday or a couple of hours ago.......Every single player must be affected somehow for mine...GOD didnt put the human body on the planet to be put through this...its not designed for it...sport and the world puts way too much pressure on the human body that it was NOT designed for, including overexertion and exercise

[@s.e.wagger3888]

Poor old Muzz didn't get a mention. The "Falcon" is in a really bad way.

[@anthonymaddison9588]

Definitely a work place injury.

[@aternialaffsalot]

It's a high contact sport. This is what they signed up for.

[@mowtoegee7049]

This is so bad. This is going to be one of the biggest issues emerging for the game in the next 10 - 20 years. I dont think people realise how bad the fallout from this is going to be

[@martingoodef811]

The buzz Robbie speaks of is similar to smoking, we spent our youth believing we’d be ok when we stopped. We were actually spending our youth for the moment not realizing the debt would forever be due n older age.

[@Chris-vq5vr]

Locally, Robbie ‘O was known as Robbie ‘E’ … I’ll leave it to your imagination

[@jackthelab6755]

It was the 90's Everyone was on the Gary Ablett's

[@s.e.wagger3888]

.....and don't forget Andrew "E" Johns. Same mob, same "E".

[@aternialaffsalot]

N'E'wcastl'E'

[@deepaksinghsisodiya5690]

Make cte is global issue .so that researcher can done globaly .... plese find the cure of this dieses

[@jayannan9897]

No one plays footy without knowing the risks... just saying✌

[@nagibkanaan2464]

THey were not complaining when had fame and a stack stack of money Fell sorrx ones who didnt make the money If u worried dont play get a job

[@johnbeattie3610]

What a ridiculous comment. Many of the players suffering didn’t make a stack of money and played before the medical issues were properly understood. If u injure yourself at your “job” you’d expect treatment, compensation etc, why would it be different for these former players?

[@aternialaffsalot]

​@@johnbeattie3610they signed up to play a high contact sport. They all knew the risks.

[@TheProcecution]

Wanna play hard, rough sports, gotta accept the trauma, no sympathy at all

[@russtang24]

we dont watch because its safe. dont like it, go play touch

[@youareawesome5236]

Listening to men whinge about CTE after voluntarily engaging in a contact sport. Is like listening to a female pornstar complain that no Man will marry her post career. No shit. This was obvious from the get go. You've got the money, the fame now deal with it. I know retired builders who's backs are destroyed. They weren't warned, they don't get a KZbin doco lol

[@nahbrahh]

There’s just no need to dismiss these issues. If your concern is tradespeople back pain, support that cause. However, your need to bring negative opinions to a justified topic of concern is for lack of a better term, pathetic

[@youareawesome5236]

@@nahbrahh you deem them negative, that's your opinion same as my comment was my opinion. I'm sure you'd love a World where everyone agrees with you n contrary opinions are deemed "pathetic" lol

[@peterichards4317]

No one was aware of what long term damage a concussion would cause. Have you seen the movie concussion? If not watch it. CTE didn’t exist back then. Yea they play the game knowing they’re gonna end up with bad knees bad shoulders maybe even life changing injuries like Alex McKinnon but no one knew about the silent ghost of CTE. All players passed and present should all be entitled to some assistance in dealing with CTE. Show some support

[@flyingcapsicum]

Your back can get destroyed from football too. No one's complaining about that. No one's whining about the broken bones, torn ligaments, severe arthritis that comes with the territory. I'll never get why some people put severe progressive brain damage on the level of having a painful back injury. It's like early onset Alzheimer's vs having a busted leg. The situation is more like builders who were exposed to asbestos and then years later came down with lung cancer. They got screwed over.

[@DinkyDiTruBlu]

Fair comment