Steve Thompson not very well at all

[CiaranIrl]

*deleted*

[enby]

No words. I am heartbroken reading this. Himself and Tom Grace were the local heroes when I was a kid. We all wanted to be them.
His wife is burdened with an impossible responsibility and let's hope that this article makes IRFU give her and the carers of others in a similar situation some assistance to lighten her load.

[Oldschoolsocks]

Harrowing stuff

Thanks for posting

[riocard911]

The first internationals I went to as a kid in the 70s, Fergus Slattery was on the team along with Willie John, Ken Kennedy, Phil Orr, Moss Keane, Mike Gibson & Tom Kiernan. He was a fabulous flanker and brave as a lion. Thanks for posting the article, Ciaran, although it's tough going and very sad. One really has to feel for his wife and what she must be going through. At least with Slats his dementia only kicked in when he was around 70. Steve Thompson, in contrast, is in his late forties, if I remember correctly.

We don't know if rugby is the cause of Fergus Slattery's illness. My aunt came down with the very same thing in her 60s and it was harrowing for all involved, but she never took part in any contact sport in her life. That said, I'm all for making rugby safer and for that reason was very disappointed, that the citing commission did not confirm Jaco Peyper's red card for Freddie Steward in the recent England game.

[FtD]

Jesus Christ, that is a harrowing read. The poor family. I'd met him numerous times and he knew my father well. Incredibly sad.

[Flash Gordon]

That's awful to read. He was playing when I started watching rugby and was always full of life, was one of the best players I have ever seen live regardless of position. Every person who expresses the view that the games gone soft and players need to man up, they should read that piece.

[FLIP]

That passage at the beginning makes me glad that swinging fists is now a red card no exceptions - and this is coming from someone who got a few yellow cards for doing so in my playing days. Had I known in my youth that brain injuries can be caused by punches and that they can cause issues in later life, I wouldn't have been swinging even if it was often defending my team mates. Tied with the push to punish the types of tackles that cause the worse concussive injuries and we're making progress. Lets just hope it's enough to save the current batch of players from the worst.

[riocard911]

That passage at the beginning makes me glad that swinging fists is now a red card no exceptions - and this is coming from someone who got a few yellow cards for doing so in my playing days. Had I known in my youth that brain injuries can be caused by punches and that they can cause issues in later life, I wouldn't have been swinging even if it was often defending my team mates. Tied with the push to punish the types of tackles that cause the worse concussive injuries and we're making progress. Lets just hope it's enough to save the current batch of players from the worst.

+1

[Oldschool]

FYI
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-08- ... sease.html

[Ruckedtobits]

FYI
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-08- ... sease.html

What an extraordinary piece of innovative research. Scary, that first impact causes problem immediately. But hopeful in that the medication available already may begin to reverse it.

[offshorerules]

Another Interesting part of Thompson's story is that he broke his neck and got told he would have to quit rugby. So he did, claimed on his insurance and retired. Then he got another opinion, had an operation and was declared fit again to play rugby. So, he paid back the compensation, returned to rugby only have to quit again when another injury hit him. Always admired the idea that rugby was more important to him than money. It makes his current situation even more tragic if it's possible.

[riocard911]

Excellent article on the upcoming concussion class action suit against the RFU and the WRU by my favourite rugby TV commentator and also my favourite English rugby player of all time:

Brian Moore: It’s too early to take sides in rugby’s toxic brain injury debate

https://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/ ... 09062.html

[offshorerules]

He's an odd favourite English player to have I think. Mine would be Jeremy Guscott.

[riocard911]

He's an odd favourite English player to have I think. Mine would be Jeremy Guscott.

To me, that's seriously odd!!!

[offshorerules]

He's an odd favourite English player to have I think. Mine would be Jeremy Guscott.

To me, that's seriously odd!!!

Why? At the time he was the Rolls Royce of centres and I was playing 13 myself at the time.

[riocard911]

He's an odd favourite English player to have I think. Mine would be Jeremy Guscott.

To me, that's seriously odd!!!

Why? At the time he was the Rolls Royce of centres and I was playing 13 myself at the time.

There you go. And I used to play hooker, which explains my admiration for Moore. We're on opposite sides of the backs vs forwards divide, mon ami!

[offshorerules]

To me, that's seriously odd!!!

Why? At the time he was the Rolls Royce of centres and I was playing 13 myself at the time.

There you go. And I used to play hooker, which explains my admiration for Moore. We're on opposite sides of the backs vs forwards divide, mon ami!

Nah, doesn't stop me admiring Keith Wood. Legend.

[enby]

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/ ... re_btn_url

Devastating if not unexpected news today that stage 2 CTE has been diagnosed in the case of former Maori and Blues scrum half Billy Guyton who died at the age of 33 in May. Dreadful.

[Flash Gordon]

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/ ... re_btn_url

Devastating if not unexpected news today that stage 2 CTE has been diagnosed in the case of former Maori and Blues scrum half Billy Guyton who died at the age of 33 in May. Dreadful.

This is a bit of a ticking time bomb. The biggest competitive threat to rugby as a sport is law suits for head injuries. There is still a body of evidence that could be used to demonstrate world rugby doesn't take this seriously enough - head shots missed, bans mitigated down to paltry suspensions etc.

RIP Billy.