Mario Fenech dementia battle: Souths great’s wife reveals Footy Show ditched him after ridicule 

The wife of the rugby league stalwart Mario Fenech has revealed how former television colleagues have lost touch and abandoned him in the wake of his devastating health loss, despite seeing early signs.

The legend of South Sydney Rabbitohs, now 60, suffers from amnesia and has the brain of an 80-year-old after being diagnosed with early dementia seven years ago.

He now has advanced chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a progressively debilitating brain condition caused by repeated blows to the head and ongoing episodes of concussion.

After working full-time on his 274 gaming career in the 1990s, Fenech became a regular on Channel Nine’s long-running program NRL Footy Show, where he was relentlessly mocked and the constant butt of jokes and panel jokes.

Rebecca Fenech has opened up about the personal pain that taunting and ridiculing the show had on her husband of 30 years behind the scenes.

Only three former Footy Show stars – Paul ‘Fatty Vautin, Peter Sterling and Steve ‘Blocker’ Roach remain in touch with Mario despite the early stages of his demise while he was still on the show.

“He speaks very occasionally to Fatty or Sterlo, sometimes to Blocker, there are three he speaks with maybe once or twice a year,” Ms Fenech said. 7News in the spotlight.

“But no, we’re not hearing from anyone.”

She insists all of her husband’s former co-stars are aware of his battle with dementia.

“Of course it is, there has been whispering for a long time. They know, they saw his decline on The Footy Show too,” she said

“It just hasn’t been talked about, it’s quiet.”

She suspects many other retired players have not been contacted as her husband can be a mirror they find difficult to look into as she pleaded with them in the interest of the future of rugby league.

“He played that game with a lot of passion, he loved it,” said Ms Fenech.

“I don’t really know what to say to them.”

“Help, help this game get safer.”

Ms. Fenech recalled how her husband revealed that he would come home “damn” after being constantly mocked on the Footy Show and how outraged he was at his treatment on the show as a comedic figure and an object of ridicule.

She said the show continued to laugh at her husband despite being fully aware of his devastating condition.

‘She [The Footy Show] perceived the mickey out of him, really, he’s a very intelligent man – but that’s the way it rolled,” Mrs. Fenech added.

“He wasn’t a boy boy because he didn’t gamble, he didn’t go out for a beer after the show. So I guess it kind of isolated him from those people.”

She added that Mario would come home upset from the show and that his parents were “definitely not” comfortable with the way their son was portrayed on the show.

Fenech still plays golf regularly, goes to the gym and stays involved with his beloved Rabbitohs.

He still attends games and was pictured in Souths training last week ahead of their big elimination win against Cronulla on Saturday night.

Souths are now one win away from the NRL grand final but face a daunting task against the defending Prime Minister Penrith.

Fenech himself opened up about the harrowing effect his declining health has had on him.

“I remember being hit in the head all the time while playing football and it had a really bad effect on me,” recalls Fenech.

‘You have the feeling that you are going to explode, and that affects your brain. It affects your brain.

“There are times when I get really bad, just fears. It’s no fun having brain damage, mate, because I literally forget about those things.’

“I tell myself, enjoy every day that I can. I want to have a good time, not a bad time.’

Despite his deteriorating memory, Fenech can still remember being bullied at school and being called a ‘wog’, which motivated him to get good at rugby league.

Former boxing champion Jeff Fenech (no relation) says it was ‘terrifying’ to see the long-term effect of concussion on his good buddy

His wife believes that the 274 games he played at the highest level have taken an irreversible toll on his brain.

His condition has deteriorated to the point that his memory is now almost gone, and it won’t be long before the former football star will need full-time care.

The couple celebrated their 30th anniversary this year and have been together for 36 years.

Ms Fenech calls the condition the ‘silent, lone killer’ and has come forward to speak out for all other patients and families ‘and for future generations of children who love rugby league’.

“He’s such a beautiful man and person and we’re losing him,” she said.

“I’m doing this because people don’t realize how much suffering he went through.

Every day now he wakes up and says, ‘I’m confused, I don’t know why I don’t feel great.

“He can’t really act or think for himself and I’m sure there are other families, wives, husbands, children and parents who live in silence and can’t tell their story.

“So I’m doing this for them and future generations who love rugby league as much as our family loves it and how we can protect them from these deadly, long-term injuries.”

In early September, former NRL star James Graham revealed the enormous toll that repeated head trauma had taken on his life.

The former England international revealed he has suffered more than 100 concussions and 18,000 collisions and that the damage has left him with ‘confrontational’ mental health issues.

The symptoms of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) — a neurodegenerative disease related to repeated trauma to the head — include memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, and problems controlling impulses.

Importantly, CTE can also lead to depression and anxiety and eventually progressive dementia.