>
James Graham reveals he suffered brain damage after more than 100 concussions during his career – as he calls on the NRL to do more about head trauma
<!–
<!–
<!–
<!–
<!–
<!–
For the first time since retiring from the NRL in 2020, former prop James Graham decided to have an MRI done to find out how much damage more than 100 concussions had caused during his 423 career.
The scan found compelling evidence that he has brain damage from his time playing rugby league and the former Bulldogs and St George Illawarra hardman want the NRL to take action.
Graham recalled that he “felt the pressure” to get back into action as soon as possible after a concussion, and said the game needed to do more to help current players.
The NRL is currently conducting research into concussions. The NRL’s medical advisory panel will make recommendations to the ARL committee later this year
Graham is caught high during his playing days by a tackle. He estimates that he suffered more than 100 concussions during his playing career
“MRI has confirmed that part of my 36-year-old brain has been damaged, meaning ‘down on volume’ on the front and side of my brain,” Graham wrote for News Corp.
‘While I passed the neuropsychological tests, an MRI showed the possible wear and tear of 17 years of rugby league, more than 400 games and about 100 concussions.
“As my neurologist Dr. Rowena Mobbs explained, my frontal lobe… [the front] and the parietal (the lateral part behind the frontal lobe) on the right side of my brain were all low on volume for a man my age. “Maybe,” Dr Mobbs says, but enough to say it’s “significant.”
“There was also an irregularity in the middle part of my brain – what’s called the white matter – white spots appear mainly on the left side. The white matter part of the brain is for transmission, it’s like a highway. These ‘white spots’, or lesions, indicate small areas of signal change – migraines can cause them, as well as ‘head trauma’.
This was the first MRI Graham went for since he was cold out in the 2018 NRL final.
While he admitted to having more than 100 concussions in his career, this one was particularly bad and “the only concussion that ever really worried me.”
“After that concussion I couldn’t drive, I didn’t feel like myself, I had debilitating headaches, I was extremely sensitive to sound and I was so worried about the state of my brain that I had that MRI scan,” he says. said.
The latest MRI is a wake-up call for not just Graham, but the entire NRL who is only now discovering the impact head injuries can have on players later in life.
‘For someone my age, my brain shouldn’t lose so much volume. I knew it anyway, but I have to take care of my brain health,” Graham said.
“I’m not looking for anyone’s sympathy, I’ve said repeatedly that maybe the meaning of life is to find something worth dying for and rugby league was this for me.
“I have to take responsibility for the way I lived and played.
Before this brain scan, I already knew that I had to be careful with my alcohol consumption. I have been aware of it since the lockdown in 2021. I have used medicinal cannabis to calm my anxiety. I’ve been taking medication for depression.’
Graham was a fearless competitor and always put his body on the line throughout his career
Graham now wants to be an advocate for current players and has called on the NRL to take steps for clubs to treat head injuries as seriously as any other injury.
“Maybe we should get that from the current crop of players. I think the power brokers of the game can do more and take the responsibility away from the footballers,” said Graham.
I also think the game’s hierarchies should work with companies that can provide advanced technology to measure concussions. This would remove subjectivity and provide a clear concussion diagnosis of athletes.
I can’t change the past, but I can make it better for the future.’