An English newspaper report suggests up to 10 rugby league players are set to take legal action over their sport’s alleged failure to protect them from brain disease and dementia.
A report in The Times says the unnamed players are undergoing testing and have approached the same law firm which has filed a letter of claim to rugby authorities on behalf of former rugby union players suffering early-onset dementia and probable chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
The Times report stated: “While the firm is not yet prepared to release names [of the rugby league players], some are said to be in a desperate situation as a result of brain injuries they believe have been caused by suffering concussions and sub-concussions while playing sport. Among them are stories of homelessness and suicidal thoughts.’’
England’s Rugby Football League has said it is “noting and monitoring developments but have received no formal contact’’.
Ryland Law, which is representing former rugby union players including ex-England hooker Steve Thompson, is reported to be preparing to launch action against rugby league authorities in the New Year.
English sports lawyer Richard Cramer told The Guardian: “It’s certainly not going to be an easy case: there are significant hurdles for the claimants to overcome but it’s not insurmountable.
“The most obvious defence would be ‘Volenti non fit injuria’, which means that when a player goes out on the field, they’re aware of the physical nature of the sport they’re playing, and they consent to playing with the risks associated to it. But if there is medical evidence to show these issues and injuries have been caused by playing the game, that’s something that cannot be ignored.”
A 2019 study showed CTE was discovered in the donated brains of two unnamed middle-aged former Australian rugby players, who had played more than 150 first grade matches.
The study, published in the international journal Acta Neuropathologica Communications on Thursday, says the discovery is the first time Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy – or CTE – has been identified in an NRL athlete.
The daughter of former Bulldogs great Steve Folkes later confirmed to the Sydney Morning Herald that CTE had been found in her father’s brain after he died of a heart problem in 2018, aged 59.
Former Kiwis prop Mark Broadhurst told Sydney’s Daily Telegraph last September that he had dementia.
“I have actually been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s,’’ Broadhurst said. “I have had five brain scans over the last five, six weeks, and then they said I had Alzheimer’s, which comes under the umbrella of dementia.’’
