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The fun police strike again:
'Apologise, own up': Roosters ripped over deleted Insta post
Story by Zachary Gates • 18h • 4 min read
A concussion expert has urged Victor Radley and the Sydney Roosters to "apologise" and "own up" after a photo of the lock forward holding up a questionable t-shirt was posted by the club on Instagram.
Radley played his 150th NRL match in Saturday night's clash with the Sharks in Gosford, won by the Tricolours 42-16.
In celebration of the win and Radley's 150th game, the club published a now-deleted Instagram post of the milestone man holding up a t-shirt which read: "150 games, 38 concussions, 26 send-offs, 6852 beers".
While many saw it simply as a case of the Roosters and one of rugby league's great larrikins having a laugh, others considered it tone deaf given the game's fight against head injuries and the devastating battles an increasing number of former players and their loved ones are facing, including Wally Lewis, Mario Fenech, Trevor Crow and Steve Mortimer.
Diseases such as dementia and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) are linked to repeated head trauma.
Dr Alan Pearce is a Melbourne-based neurophysiologist specialising in concussion and CTE who in 2018 published a study on the long-term effects of concussion on rugby league players.
The promotion of the t-shirt by Radley and the Roosters left Pearce alarmed.
"One: I was disappointed that there was this sort of glorification of brain injuries through how many concussions he's apparently had," Pearce told Wide World of Sports on Monday.
"But two: it shows that we need to be doing more education and awareness throughout these sports because it says to me that they have — I'll be blunt — no clue about the short- and long-term risks of repeated concussions.
Watch the 2025 NRL premiership live and free on Nine and 9Now.
" Just by removing a post, it doesn't necessarily excuse them, and also, it causes more confusion [around head trauma], because people will not know why they took it down. Most people won't know.
"They [the Roosters] have gone, 'Oh, shit, we've made a mistake'.
"Well, apologise, own up to it, and actually use it as a learning moment to say, 'We removed the post because we do not condone concussions, glorifying concussions, it's not a badge of honour, athlete health and wellbeing is our highest priority'."
Wide World of Sports contacted the Roosters for comment but the club chose not to provide a statement on the record.
The Roosters are generally regarded as industry leaders when it comes to the management of players who've suffered repeated head trauma.
Roosters legends Boyd Cordner and Jake Friend both retired in 2021 due to concerns about their history of head injuries. Their retirement decisions were made on the back of extensive medical advice and the champion duo had the emphatic backing of the club.
The Roosters were also cautious in their handling of Luke Keary's head injuries, with the premiership-winning playmaker missing more than a month of football in 2022 to prioritise his health.
Radley, 27, is the latest Roosters player to have dealt with a string of concussions, and the club has also erred on the side of caution in protection of him.
In a match between the Roosters and Melbourne Storm in 2022, he was involved in such a sickening collision that he was left convulsing on the ground, before being taken from the field on a medicab.
This Instagram controversy comes less than a week after Broncos fullback Reece Walsh found himself in the gun for posting to TikTok a now-deleted video of him punching another man.
"It was a joke with me [sic] best mate," Walsh said.
The Broncos released a statement which said: "Walsh today met with the club management about the matter and apologised for his lack of judgement".
Pearce slammed the Broncos' statement, declared the NRL must do more to raise awareness of the dangers of head injuries, and called out the league over its silence.
WWOS contacted the Broncos and the NRL for comment last Thursday, but neither the club nor the governing body responded.
Pearce detailed the catastrophic potential impact of repeated head trauma.
" We know that with three or more concussions there's greater risk of cognitive impairment, so things like making decisions and short-term memory," he began.
"We do see some evidence of behavioural issues, so things like aggression and irritability and blowing a fuse much quicker than we would expect.
"Sometimes we also see movement disorders, so things like fine-motor control [issues], and reaction times are slowed.
"Whether it leads to an increased risk of dementia, there's risks of that.
" One of the forgotten victims in all this is the player's partner or wife, and family and children, as well, who have to bear the burden of looking after the player," Pearce added.
"Many times the players have been asked, 'Would you do this again?', [and they say], 'Yeah, I would', and then you ask the partners or the wives and they say, 'Hell no, I wouldn't put myself through this again'.
"They're the ones picking up the pieces on a day-to-day basis."
'Apologise, own up': Roosters ripped over deleted Insta post
Story by Zachary Gates • 18h • 4 min read
A concussion expert has urged Victor Radley and the Sydney Roosters to "apologise" and "own up" after a photo of the lock forward holding up a questionable t-shirt was posted by the club on Instagram.
Radley played his 150th NRL match in Saturday night's clash with the Sharks in Gosford, won by the Tricolours 42-16.
In celebration of the win and Radley's 150th game, the club published a now-deleted Instagram post of the milestone man holding up a t-shirt which read: "150 games, 38 concussions, 26 send-offs, 6852 beers".
While many saw it simply as a case of the Roosters and one of rugby league's great larrikins having a laugh, others considered it tone deaf given the game's fight against head injuries and the devastating battles an increasing number of former players and their loved ones are facing, including Wally Lewis, Mario Fenech, Trevor Crow and Steve Mortimer.
Diseases such as dementia and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) are linked to repeated head trauma.
Dr Alan Pearce is a Melbourne-based neurophysiologist specialising in concussion and CTE who in 2018 published a study on the long-term effects of concussion on rugby league players.
The promotion of the t-shirt by Radley and the Roosters left Pearce alarmed.
"One: I was disappointed that there was this sort of glorification of brain injuries through how many concussions he's apparently had," Pearce told Wide World of Sports on Monday.
"But two: it shows that we need to be doing more education and awareness throughout these sports because it says to me that they have — I'll be blunt — no clue about the short- and long-term risks of repeated concussions.
Watch the 2025 NRL premiership live and free on Nine and 9Now.
" Just by removing a post, it doesn't necessarily excuse them, and also, it causes more confusion [around head trauma], because people will not know why they took it down. Most people won't know.
"They [the Roosters] have gone, 'Oh, shit, we've made a mistake'.
"Well, apologise, own up to it, and actually use it as a learning moment to say, 'We removed the post because we do not condone concussions, glorifying concussions, it's not a badge of honour, athlete health and wellbeing is our highest priority'."
Wide World of Sports contacted the Roosters for comment but the club chose not to provide a statement on the record.
The Roosters are generally regarded as industry leaders when it comes to the management of players who've suffered repeated head trauma.
Roosters legends Boyd Cordner and Jake Friend both retired in 2021 due to concerns about their history of head injuries. Their retirement decisions were made on the back of extensive medical advice and the champion duo had the emphatic backing of the club.
The Roosters were also cautious in their handling of Luke Keary's head injuries, with the premiership-winning playmaker missing more than a month of football in 2022 to prioritise his health.
Radley, 27, is the latest Roosters player to have dealt with a string of concussions, and the club has also erred on the side of caution in protection of him.
In a match between the Roosters and Melbourne Storm in 2022, he was involved in such a sickening collision that he was left convulsing on the ground, before being taken from the field on a medicab.
This Instagram controversy comes less than a week after Broncos fullback Reece Walsh found himself in the gun for posting to TikTok a now-deleted video of him punching another man.
"It was a joke with me [sic] best mate," Walsh said.
The Broncos released a statement which said: "Walsh today met with the club management about the matter and apologised for his lack of judgement".
Pearce slammed the Broncos' statement, declared the NRL must do more to raise awareness of the dangers of head injuries, and called out the league over its silence.
WWOS contacted the Broncos and the NRL for comment last Thursday, but neither the club nor the governing body responded.
Pearce detailed the catastrophic potential impact of repeated head trauma.
" We know that with three or more concussions there's greater risk of cognitive impairment, so things like making decisions and short-term memory," he began.
"We do see some evidence of behavioural issues, so things like aggression and irritability and blowing a fuse much quicker than we would expect.
"Sometimes we also see movement disorders, so things like fine-motor control [issues], and reaction times are slowed.
"Whether it leads to an increased risk of dementia, there's risks of that.
" One of the forgotten victims in all this is the player's partner or wife, and family and children, as well, who have to bear the burden of looking after the player," Pearce added.
"Many times the players have been asked, 'Would you do this again?', [and they say], 'Yeah, I would', and then you ask the partners or the wives and they say, 'Hell no, I wouldn't put myself through this again'.
"They're the ones picking up the pieces on a day-to-day basis."
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