'I started crying': Legend feels abandoned by NRL

2 years ago 92

Rugby league fable Mark 'Spudd' Carroll has called connected the NRL and the Prime Minister to assistance erstwhile players wage for encephalon scans arsenic the ex-Manly and Souths hard antheral revealed the harrowing depths of his caller CTE diagnosis.

One of the toughest enforcers to ever instrumentality the field, Carroll's battles with Newcastle's Paul Harragon are etched into the game's folklore during a clip erstwhile playing connected portion injured was not lone expected but admired.

Unfortunately for Carroll 1 of the game's iconic figures of the 1990s, it has travel astatine a immense cost.

The erstwhile NSW and Kangaroos prop who won a premiership with Manly successful 1995, revealed the past week has been the "most affectional of his life" aft receiving a telephone from his doc pursuing a PET scan, an imaging trial that doctors usage to diagnose encephalon disorders and different conditions.

"She goes I'm truly atrocious but the scan shows signs of CTE," Carroll told Nine's Today Extra.

"I started crying. I truly did, I'm an affectional guy. I past said 'Can you ringing my woman and archer her successful English what you are saying?' I had to spell home. I was an implicit mess."

Carroll, who has tally a gym for 17 years aft football, said helium was sparked into enactment aft seeing the communicative connected Mario Fenech, the erstwhile Souths prop who is present surviving with dementia.

"Spudd" confirmed the quality connected Fenech near him "rattled" though he'd been surviving with symptoms for years, which included "suicidal thoughts".

"I've had the shield up for 3 years, I'm getting a spot shaky reasoning astir it. There's a batch of signs. I person a batch of anxiety. I went into a spot of a depression," added Carroll.

"But for maine to person suicidal bloody thoughts ... Thank deity there's a broadside of my caput that is inactive moving OK, it stopped me. I've got a beauteous family. I emotion my life. Without the NRL I wouldn't person what I've got."

While Carroll is grateful for everything the crippled has fixed him, the erstwhile prop had immoderate pointed words for the NRL.

Under caller rules, which came into effect past week, players who person been diagnosed with a concussion will beryllium automatically stood down from interaction grooming oregon playing for an 11-day period.

It was arguably the astir important alteration to its concussion argumentation successful astir a decennary which means players are guaranteed to miss the pursuing weekend's lucifer aft a caput knock, and perchance a 2nd crippled depending connected turnaround times.

Carroll said it wasn't bully enough.

"They've gone from six to 11. When we were playing, it was a badge of honour not to travel disconnected the field. I ne'er got walked off. I ne'er got taken retired connected a stretcher. Our happening was, deed maine with smelling salts and I'll spell again," Carroll said.

"Can the NRL travel retired and assistance our erstwhile players, not my era, the epoch earlier that? They're heroes. What I privation to archer them is, tin you delight assistance erstwhile players? Why bash I accidental that?

"The PET scan is $900. Some of these guys person nary money. We're not covered by Medicare, we're not covered by a wellness fund.

"They created the ARL that turned into the NRL. NRL, travel retired and assistance your players."

An affectional Carroll revealed helium had been surviving successful soundlessness for years and would springiness radical the modular reply erstwhile asked however helium was: "I'm feeling great."

But heavy down it was a antithetic story.

"I was feeling truly shit, and you enactment up the guard. To person suicidal thoughts, I'm not the lone 1 retired there. I mislaid 1 of my large mates. He took his life. In WhatsApp I had to chopped it off. I wanted to termination myself each bloody day. I'm reaching retired to our Prime Minister, tick it arsenic a Medicare (covered issue) Australia wide."

As for the NRL, Carroll said helium hasn't been contacted by anyone.

"It's called work of care. The NRL, I haven't heard a peep from them. But I'm not surprised.

"They came retired boasting that they made $60 cardinal past year; enactment it backmost into the players that helped your foundation.

"I've had implicit a twelve telephone calls and substance messages from erstwhile players asking for my doctor's number.

"They're concerned. I've got a 29-year-old playing the game, he's got concerns."

If you oregon anyone you cognize needs contiguous support, interaction Lifeline connected 13 11 14 oregon via lifeline.org.au. In an emergency, telephone 000.

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