Head trauma in football codes cannot be ignored

The Australian’s newest podcast, Head Noise, raises profoundly important questions for those who play and follow the sports Australians love, especially rugby league and Australian football. The issues raised go to the physical and mental health of NRL and AFL superstars, past and present, and to that of the boys and girls playing those games at school and in local clubs. All up, more than 1.5 million Australians take to the football field. Parents of young players, as well as fans of the top teams, will find the issues raised in the series by former NRL superstar James Graham, in partnership with chief sports writer Jessica Halloran and editorial director Claire Harvey, compelling.

In episode one, available now on The Australian’s website and app, Graham asks what the 100 or so concussions he sustained playing the game that gave him “the most brilliant years of my life” have done to his brain. At one stage, in 2016, he knew something was very wrong. “I felt like I was losing my mind. I was losing control.” And NRL legend Wally Lewis, who captained the Brisbane Broncos, the Maroons State of Origin side and the Kangaroos, reveals he was told by his doctor to stop playing football to protect his brain at the age of 26, when he was diagnosed with epilepsy. But Lewis refused to quit.

Burning questions will be addressed, such as: Is there too much contact in training? Should kids tackle in junior footy? And how long should concussed athletes be sidelined? The answers are not always clear-cut. Juniors, after all, need to learn how to tackle as safely as possible. But not at the expense of their health.

Graham, 36, originally from Merseyside in England, who did the hard yards on the field for Canterbury-Bankstown and St George Illawarra, as well as for England, wants longer mandatory stand-down periods for concussed athletes, though that was not his view when he was playing. He also wants all codes, starting with the NRL, to introduce annual “brain body and mind” check-ups for all former elite athletes.

Episode two, available on Monday, September 12, will include a focus on AFL. The games are chalk and cheese. But players in both are vulnerable to head clashes, slamming into the ground and hits from other players’ arms and shoulders. Over decades, such clashes take a toll.

Graham, who began playing at age eight, also will explore the brain disease chronic traumatic encephalo­pathy, or CTE. The condition is linked to repetitive head knocks and can be diagnosed only after death, through brain tissue analysis. It has occurred in players in both major codes, including Richmond’s Shane Tuck and St Kilda great Danny Frawley in the AFL. Both men took their own lives. The family of Maroons and Cowboys coach Paul Green, who took his own life, is seeking answers about whether head trauma contributed to his suffering. While canvassing the views and experiences of past and present players and their loved ones, the podcast over several weeks will provide insights from medical experts and researchers such as US neuroscientist Chris Nowinski. As a former college football player and wrestler, he understands the issue from the sporting and medical perspectives. He has helped US players with concussion and CTE. Like most Australians and this newspaper, podcast participants love these games. The podcast is a constructive investigation that should contribute to making them safer for players.