NRL great James Graham opens up on why he put his brain on the line

Head Noise is a groundbreaking investigative six-part podcast series by James Graham and The Australian’s Jessica Halloran. It looks at the long-term consequences of concussion and the risks, rewards and responsibilities involved in playing contact sports.

Former rugby league great James Graham, who is launching a new podcast called Head Noise for The Australian looking at the impact of concussion in sport, with kids from Paddington Colts. Picture: John Feder/The Australian

Rugby league great James Graham played more than 400 games, was involved in about 18,000 collisions and sustained more than 100 concussions – and now he wants to know what the game did to his brain.

The Australian‘s newest podcast investigation, launching on Monday, follows Graham as he explores his own brain health and examines the evidence about head trauma in sport, from elite athletes all the way down to children’s and community sport.

The investigation follows Graham undergoing brain tests and scans, and sharing the results with listeners as he receives them.

“I’ve worked with The Australian on this podcast investigation – Head Noise – because I don’t want sympathy or excuses and I want to make a difference,” he told The Weekend Australian.

“I have gone on my own journey having my brain tested. I am very fortunate to have the foresight to seek out doctors and specialists … but I have seen some friends and ex-teammates in and around the game suffer and perhaps unnecessarily.

“I wanted to explore what more can be done for former athletes who play collision sports and I see a need for governing bodies to look out for former players,” Graham said.

James Graham being tackled in 2018, during his time with the Dragons. Picture: Michael Dodge/Getty Images

“I know former players who I know are suffering. I certainly feel we can make a really big difference and create some positive changes from this podcast. I don’t want a fearful debate – I just want to create a constructive conversation around the issue.”

As well as opening up on his own brain health, Graham has interviewed stars of the NRL, AFL, Olympics and rugby union who have revealed harrowing experiences of concussion. They all speak of the conflict between their love of the game and their health.

The series examines some of sport’s hottest topics, including: should kids be banned from tackling? And do current concussion protocols protect professional and grassroots athletes enough?

Graham was one of the hardest men in rugby league: a prop who spent 17 years playing first grade and Tests, and was renowned for his fearless, hard-tackling style, famously breaking the cheekbone of fellow star Sam Burgess in the 2014 grand final.

Rugby league fans know he’s also been vocal in arguing players should have the right to decide whether they are fit to remain on the field after a head knock.

Since retirement, he has had to confront some hard realities about his own health and reassess his opinions. He said he loved the physicality of the game from the first moment he started playing as an eight-year-old boy growing up in Liverpool, England.

“My favourite part about rugby league was the physical nature of it, especially starting out in Liverpool. And as it became my profession, I understood how important it was to getting the victory for the team,” Graham said.

“Look at the recent game between the Roosters and Storm, seeing the big guys like Nelson Asofa-Solomona and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves play, they needed to be out in force. I wasn’t as big as those guys, I did it differently, the contact in practice was a burden but in games I enjoyed it.”

“I enjoyed what I called ‘getting some action’.”

When playing, Graham was the first current NRL player to announce he would donate his brain to science – both Mark Carroll and Peter Sterling have since also promised theirs.

The podcast also explores the issue of the brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which is a progressive brain condition that is linked to the repeated blows to the head and repeated episodes of concussion. It can be diagnosed only after death

Recently, it was announced that former Cronulla player and celebrated Cowboys premiership coach Paul Green’s brain would be donated for examination by The Australian Sports Brain Bank. “Paul was known for always looking out for others. We are proud that part of his legacy will be looking out for the brain health of all others involved in the game that he loved,” the Green family wrote in a statement.

Bulldogs great Steve Folkes, who died from a heart attack, also donated his brain. A post mortem found he had developed CTE.

In recent years, the AFL has been rocked by the tragic loss of Richmond’s Shane Tuck and St Kilda great Danny Frawley, both of whom took their own lives and were both found to have had CTE.