Legendary rugby league enforcer Mark ‘Spudd’ Carroll joined The Rush Hour and had an honest, raw conversation about his battle with CTE.
The iconic ex-player also gave his perspective about how the NRL are handling the problematic issue stating, ‘[they] need to step up’.
LISTEN HERE FOR FULL INTERVIEW:
After learning of his diagnosis, panic and worrying concerns took over Spudd.
‘I asked if I’m going to die,
‘[The specialist] said there are are ways to get around this.’
But Carroll desperately called the NRL to take more action to support former players who are suffering from the effects of concussion from their playing days.
‘The sticking point is this. A PET scan is $900, not covered by Medicare or health cover.
‘I don’t know if I’m talking a different language to the NRL, but I need them to step up, do the next hit-up, pay for the bill.
‘They say they made $60 million last year, how about the former players? They’re not just players, they’re my heroes, they’re the heroes of the people in the street.’
‘John Sattler wasn’t just a hero to players, but to people.’
Carroll continued, after learning of a study conducted by Boston University in the United States.
‘They’ve got their own CTE centre,
‘They had 376 former [NFL] players, 345 had symptoms.
‘That’s 91%!’