MARK ‘SPUDD’ CARROLL: Concussion costing me my voice as Tolu Koula, Jake Trbojevic injuries highlight issue

On the footy field, I knew how to bring down my opponents.

Get in under the ribs, drive with the shoulder and smash ‘em.

These days, I’m still up for the battle … but the venue is a lot different.

It’s upstairs between the ears and my opponent is elusive and hard to control.

Living with the symptoms of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a daily challenge.

It affects everything from my mental health to vocal cords.

That’s why I released a video on social media last week – which got a huge reaction - to help people better understand.

In recent weeks my voice has become gravelly and people listening to me on Fox League or radio have noticed the difference.

“Hey, Spudd have you got a sore throat”, is typical of the messages I’ve been receiving from concerned viewers and listeners.

Other people think I must have copped an elbow to the larynx like old Bears legend Gary Larson.

I wish it was that simple!

But it all comes back to CTE.

I’m suffering from anxiety and basically my brain is sending the wrong message to the voice box – and it’s doing my head in.

I didn’t do the video for sympathy, but the amount of people who reached out has blown me away.

I also wanted to bring to the attention of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Federal Government that more needs to be done for people with brain injuries.

Mr Albanese is a mad Rabbitohs fan, my old club, and I’d love the opportunity to sit down with him and discuss how and why the Government needs to help people who are suffering from this horrible disease.

All the treatment I’ve been under-taking isn’t covered by Medicare or private health, which I reckon is incredibly poor.

All the out-of-pocket expenses really add up and are stopping people from being examined and that needs to change.

I’m hoping the NRL get involved too.

Myself and James Graham, the former Bulldogs and Dragons front rower, met with Andrew Abdo and Peter Vlandys late last year to discuss the issue of concussion.

It went well… but I haven’t heard anything from them since.

A couple of years ago I found out I had damage to my brain after having a PET scan. I had it done after watching a documentary on my old Rabbitohs captain Mario Fenech.

Mario revealed he had been battling early onset dementia and it really hit home with me and a lot of other old footballers.

I’m 57 now and guys from my era were always told to get up. It was a badge of honour to climb back to your feet after being concussed in a game and take the next carry.

We didn’t have the tests they put players through these days.

I remember one game; I was back in the sheds and the team doctor gave me two numbers to remember.

After a brief break he came back to me and said, “what were those two numbers I mentioned?”

I replied, “what two numbers”?

He looked at me and said, “you’re right to go back on”.

It was a different time then and I grew up watching my heroes climb off the canvas every week.

But now I am living with the consequences.

Thankfully modern-day players are in much better hands because of all the information we have now on the effects of concussion.

You saw in that crazy start to the Sea Eagles-Roosters semifinal, how they quickly took Manly’s Tolu Koula and Jake Trbojevic off the field when they were concussed.

Back when I played, they would have been allowed to keep playing – and no one would have batted an eyelid.

This isn’t a condition that just affects rugby league players.

I’ve attended concussion meetings where 20 people of all walks of life open up on their experiences with CTE.

This group included car crash survivors, dancers… even bankers. Anyone can suffer a concussion and many of them were doing it tougher than me.

I’m a fit and positive person and take pride in never missing a day of work at Spudd’s Gym since we opened 19 years ago.

My dad always told me to turn a negative into a positive but sometimes with this degenerative disease it just won’t happen for me.

There have been many mornings I’ve felt so depressed I haven’t wanted to get out of bed.

Around 18 months ago I even had suicidal thoughts.

Thankfully, I’ve left that behind thanks to the incredible support of my family and friends.

This year I’ve started seeing neurosurgeon Doctor Charlie Teo to get to the bottom of why my voice has been affected, among other things.

We are doing something called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS).

It’s a new non-invasive brain stimulation treatment to improve my symptoms.

Basically, the doctors determine what part of the brain is “underactive or overactive” and put magnets there for stimulation through the skull.

There had been some improvement in the data in certain areas of my brain.

But the latest numbers showed some deterioration at the back, which I’m told is the speech part of the brain.

So, I think that’s why my voice has been affected.

I’ve had so many well-wishers reach out since I posted the video, which I promise you wasn’t my intention.

I’m not after sympathy, I just want the people in power to listen up.

The craziest thing about all this?

I can still sing my lungs out!

Maybe I should break out into song during my next commentary stint.

AND DON’T GET ME STARTED

The Roosters are making me eat humble pie.

I wrote them off a few weeks ago when they lost Sam Walker and Brandon Smith to injury, but here they are in a preliminary final against the Storm.

They have their spiritual leader back from suspension in Jared Waera-Hargreaves and he lifts everyone around him.

Manly tried to bash him from the kick-off and all that happened was they lost Koula for the night to concussion.

I’ve never seen a game start like that.

Koula and Jake Trbojevic both off the field for a HIA inside the first 20 seconds!

And for the Chooks how about Victor Radley playing so soon after breaking his shoulder – that’s amazing.

They were brutal against the Sea Eagles and 40-16 was a fair indication.

They’re such a potent team.

Joey Manu and Joseph Sua’ali’i are giants in the centres and they have two skyscrapers on the wings in Daniel Tupou and Dom Young.

James Tedesco was incredible at fullback with a couple of tries and over 200 running metres.

If there’s going to be an upset in the preliminary finals, this game at AAMI Park is the main candidate.

The big problem for the Roosters could be a mental one.

They’ve only beaten the Storm once from their past 11 games – that ain’t great.

But they have the game to do it.

They’ve got to play to their strengths. Luke Keary needs to aim kicks to their big wingers and the forwards must follow Waera-Hargreaves up the middle.

You’ve got to bash Melbourne.

The pressure is on Penrith in their preliminary final against Cronulla – because everyone expects them to win.

I see this season as the Panthers’ last chance for glory in their championship era and that might make them a little tense and nervous.

They will be desperate to see off Jarome Luai and James Fisher-Harris with a fourth straight premiership, but they need to get to the grand final first and the Sharks aren’t pushovers.

Like just about everyone else outside of Bondi and The Shire though, I believe it will be a Panthers-Storm grand final on October 6.