Bledisloe 2020: Wallaby Ned Hanigan tackled cow in unique concussion test
After enduring 40 consecutive days of headaches, Ned Hanigan feared the frightening concussion experience would end his career - that was until he crunched a 40kg beast on his farm.
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Ned Hanigan endured 40 consecutive days of headaches due to concussion that threatened his career.
Then he tackled a cow, and was convinced he’d be fine.
The Wallabies backrower, tasked with intimidating All Blacks forwards and disrupting their attack this Saturday at ANZ Stadium, didn’t think twice when a calf crossed a fence on his family’s cattle farm in Coonamble in April.
He hadn’t played a game of rugby since last October.
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“But the situation is, a calf has gone through a fence and its mother’s on the other side and the calf will run through the fence but won’t go back, so you just have to put it back,” Hanigan told Rugby Central.
“It’s not as easy as just going up and taking it across. You have to obviously catch it and then push it back through the fence.
“So I just had to jump out of the ute, no hesitation, it’s just how you have to do it.
“At the start of the year I just needed to get my head right.
“I spoke to a lot of people about it, got a lot of expert advice on it, spoke to past players, the good stories along with the bad.
“I spoke to blokes who said they didn’t take the time that they should have out of the [game and] resting the melon.
“And then the corona period, when it hit when that when the game stopped [in March], I was ready to play.
“Then we were coming off a two-week period of being asymptomatic. And so I was right to go.
“But then when it hit, that just gave me another six weeks really before I had to hit contact.
“I was tackling a calf at home. There were heifers we were calving, a calf got across and my little sister was driving the ute and I had to tackle the calf - that was the first bit of contact.
“So that was return-to-play contact. I actually hadn’t really had a lot of contact before tackling a calf on the fence line.”
It’s probably why Hanigan has since been thumping humans without fear, forcing his way into the Wallabies squad after strong performances for NSW, and then into the starting side in Auckland a fortnight ago, marking his Test return after a near two-year absence.
But there were times he feared he’d never pull the boots on again.
Hanigan, who had previously suffered a serious concussion early in the 2019 season, sustained a head knock playing for NSW Country Eagles one year ago.
After some time off, he returned to NSW Waratahs training but suffered a second concussion at pre-season training, and the ongoing health issues, plus the COVID-19 Super Rugby stoppage, sidelined him until July.
“I had headaches, and it would flow on, you wake up with a headache in the morning, I did it for 40 days straight,” Hanigan said.
“By 20 days you go, ‘There’s the headache again’, and it gets you in a bit of a bad mood, it’s just this lingering thing and you just want it to go away.
“It’s like an itch that you can’t scratch. It just gets annoying and then that sort of flows into things you’re doing daily. You don’t want to go out to the beach with the mate because you’ve got bloody headaches.
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“Concussions are such funny things, because when you go beyond about three weeks, it tends to be longer - some you might go one, two weeks, but then quite often, if it takes longer than that, you start getting into like a month, two months.
“But it always crosses your mind. You go ‘Geez, am I always going to wake up with a headache? Am I always going to feel a bit emotional or moody and just off?’
“So, yeah, definitely [retirement crossed my mind], but you’re always striving to do the right thing to get back on the paddock.
“Sometimes I was questioning myself as to whether I was making myself believe that I was not well in the head or having headaches. You question those sort of things.
“It’s just a weird situation to be in. But I’m glad the Tahs gave me the time to get right, and I saw a lot of experts.
“Now I’ve whacked my head on a bit of stuff and haven’t done too much damage, so now we should be sweet.
“Making sure you stay on top of it and actively trying to make sure you’re recovering the best you can was pretty important for me.
“Thankfully, we’re all good.”
While some questioned Hanigan’s selection for the second Bledisloe, after the Wallabies had drawn the first Test, his impressive return - setting up a try, winning a turnover in the 27-7 loss - revealed what coach Dave Rennie had seen in training.
“I just always go out on the paddock and try my best,” Hanigan said.
“I think it’s all anyone can really ask of you. I’ve always done that.”
Wallabies vs All Blacks Bledisloe III is Live on Fox Sports 505 and Kayo from 7.00pm Saturday (Available in 4k on Foxtel)