Wanted: Kiwi rugby brains

Steve Devine

'Most people know they aren't going to need their brain after they are gone.'

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THE brains of All Blacks and Kiwi NRL stars are wanted for an international study to see if there is a link between repeated sports concussions and the early onset of dementia.

Medical experts in America have already reached agreement for the post-death donations of brains of high-profile American athletes for their research – including leading NFL and rugby players. Now they are set to spread the net to Australasia and plan to approach players via the New Zealand Rugby Union, NRL and AFL officials.

The research is the brainchild of former professional wrestler and WWE star Chris "Harvard" Nowinski, president of The Sports Legacy Institute, and the Boston-based Centre for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy.

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a progressive neurological disease brought on by repeated brain injuries, including concussions.

And Nowinski said he would love to confirm the involvement of leading New Zealand rugby and league players.

"Yeah, we would be very excited to include New Zealand in the study," he told Sunday News from Boston.

"We aren't asking for much, except for your brain.

"A lot of the research initially came out of my own personal contact in the sporting world. I am yet to meet New Zealanders – but with the publicity and momentum we are getting, it would be great to get some involved.

"We have a major rugby donor a couple of weeks ago [from America]. And he mentioned he wants to send out a letter to his players saying they should join this programme and it will help keep the sport as safe as possible.

"So that would be the kind of relationship we would want [with the NZRU]. We would basically partner [with them], to have them both aware of our research programmes but also the outcomes so they could continue to modify the game and to protect the players."

CSTE director Ann McKee added: "We would like to get the [New Zealand] rugby team involved."

"Getting involved with the All Blacks rugby team would be a great thing. We would definitely like to look at rugby. We would love it – they are pretty well known."

Former All Black halfback Steve Devine, whose career was cut short by concussion, said he would consider donating his brain to medical research, as did fellow former Kiwis stars Mark Graham and Dean Lonergan.

"Would I be involved? Well, I would be dead so I don't think it would be too big an issue," Devine said.

"Yeah, possibly. If it is going to help someone else, then I suppose it would be a good thing."

Devine played 10 tests for the All Blacks in 2002 and 2003, before being forced to quit following a series of sickening head blows. Two years after quitting, he said he was still "struggling" with post-concussion issues.

"I still average a headache every three days," he said.

"They [doctors] are saying time [is the only cure]. But I have had people say that if it is not fixed after two years then it is towards the permanent track, which is a bit scary."

Lonergan became a cult hero after being knocked out and then going into convulsions while playing for the Kiwis in 1991, a move later dubbed "the Lonergan Shuffle".

He said he would think about being involved "long and hard".

"It is fair to say that until I got knocked out in 1991 I was probably a smart man. Now that my brain has been rattled, I am just a silly old pr*ck," he said.

"The only way you could do it, I would have thought, is to juxtapose it against the general population to see if people who died from similar reasons have the same brain deterioration."

Graham, voted New Zealand's league player of the 20th century, said he would be involved if it would help others.

"If they are trying to come up with something to target dementia, then that would be great for everybody," he said.

"I am down as an organ donor, if I can help anyone when I go. ... If it was going to help with someone, or dementia sufferers, I would not have a problem."

Nowinski said of the trio's comments: "That is fantastic.

"The issue is that no one has ever asked. Most people know they aren't going to need their brain after they are gone – this can help make the game safer.

"And I am a donor myself. It is not a hard decision for me."

More than 150 former professional US athletes have joined the brain donation registry. Players to sign up include Matt Brik of the Baltimore Ravens, Tofa Tatupu of the Seattle Superhawks and Sean Morey of the Arizona Cardinals.