Gladiators then, Mark ‘Spudd’ Carroll fears for mate Paul ‘The Chief’ Harragon now

The rivalry between Mark ‘Spudd’ Carroll and Paul ‘The Chief’ Harragon produced bone-rattling collisions. Spudd is now asking for all players of that era, including the Chief, to get a brain scan.

Paul Harragon tackles Mark Carroll in a game from 1997.

The clashes between Mark “Spudd” Carroll and Paul “the Chief” Harragon were gladiatorial.

In the mid-90s they engaged in a brutal war of supremacy that usually ended with one or the other prone on the ground.

Knights players are sure Spudd stood over the Chief after he knocked him out at Marathon Stadium in 1995 and said “You’re my prey, I am going to eat you”.

Also in 1995 in front of a packed home crowd in Newcastle, the Chief took Spudd head-on in a crushing hit that left the Manly hard man unconscious on the turf.

“He was my nemesis and I was his,” Carroll, 56, said. “People asked, ‘did you like him?’ I’d say, ‘no, I hated him and he was the same’. That’s horrible to say but it was his job to lead his side as it was for me. It was taking each other on. At all costs.”

But today they are mates.

“What amazes me about this unbelievable game of rugby league, to play first grade, play for my state, then my country, and now I have been retired 23 years but still I am asked on a daily basis, am I mates with the Chief,” Carroll said.

“Straight away the response from me is, ‘yes, we often touch base … the legacy we formed in those amazing years, 94-97, we both were brought up by parents who told us to shake hands and move on. We used to bash the shit out of each other but we would always finish with a handshake. Even though one of us probably got a few more whacks than the other.”

But does Carroll worry about his mate, who also suffered numerous concussions? Yes. Like he worries for everyone who played in his era and his heroes who played before him.

“I check in with the Chief a lot,” Carroll said. “I’ve let him know what is going on with me. As I am saying to all players out there, the ball is in your court.

“Go get a brain scan.

“Looking back as a parent who has a boy, as the Chief has, I’m glad my Joshua never played.”