YEP comment - Retirement over concussion could be Leeds Rhinos’ Stevie Ward’s lasting legacy to rugby league

At 27, this fine young trooper from Leeds should be at the peak of his powers. He would have been entering his second year as Rhinos captain.

But concussions that initially cut short his 2020 campaign have now brought a premature end to his career.

This line from his retirement statement yesterday should send shivers down the spine of rugby league’s decision-makers.

“I struggle with migraines, dizziness, motion sickness, sensitivity to light and screens, short-term memory issues, slurred speech and an inability to exercise without irritating my symptoms,” he said.

All this from concussions sustained in January and February last year.

The parallel with another former Rhinos favourite in Rob Burrow – while not scientifically accurate due to no direct links between rugby league, concussion and motor neurone disease - raises questions nonetheless.

Ward’s retirement is the second in quick succession by a rugby league player due to concussion.

That he is a Leeds Rhinos favourite brings the issue right to our very doorstep.

He wants his retirement to be a catalyst for research into rugby league and brain injuries. Leeds Rhinos have responded by stepping up their own investigations – in partnership with the University of Leeds and Leeds Beckett University – into collision injuries.

A serial winner of trophies in his now-shortened Rhinos career, this selfless, self-preserving decision could be Stevie Ward’s lasting legacy.

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