A new analysis reveals that 31 former rugby league players, some in their 20s and 30s, showed signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, raising concerns over early exposure to head impacts and reinforcing the need for safer youth sports practices.
A new analysis of donated brains has found chronic traumatic encephalopathy in 31 former rugby league players, including athletes who died in their 20s, 30s and 40s, according to research presented at the International Sports Concussion Conference in Melbourne. The findings add to growing evidence that repeated head impacts in collision sports can leave lasting neurological damage long after retirement.
The study examined 51 brains donated by people who had played rugby league at amateur and professional levels. Of those, 31 showed signs of CTE, a degenerative brain disease that can only be diagnosed after death. The Australian Sports Brain Bank, which opened in 2018, has now become a key source of evidence in this field, with earlier data showing that more than half of the brains donated by former Australian sports players had signs of the disease.
Among the cases highlighted were former NRL coach Paul Green, who died at 49, and Manly Sea Eagles player Keith Titmuss, who died at 20. Green’s widow, Amanda, has urged greater protection for young athletes and more brain donations for research, saying she did not understand CTE until after her husband’s death. She said the symptoms she later associated with the disease included anxiety, impatience and impulsive behaviour. Symptoms linked to CTE can also include memory loss, anger and other changes in mood and behaviour.
Alan Pearce of Swinburne University, one of the researchers, said the results showed that rugby league’s risks begin early and that contact limits and non-contact versions of the game should be considered for children. Titmuss’s case was particularly striking: his diagnosis, made after his brain was donated by his parents, showed stage two CTE at 20. He had played junior rugby league from the age of five and schoolboy rugby union, underlining concerns that exposure to repetitive head impacts can start well before elite-level sport. Earlier research has also found CTE in former rugby league players, reinforcing concerns that Australia’s contact sports are not immune.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
