MARK ‘SPUDD’ CARROLL: Victor Radley and Roosters face tough choice over his NRL future

I often get asked if I knew then what I know now about the impact of repeated concussions, would I have kept playing rugby league for as long as I did.

I have wrestled with the answer to this question ever since doctors diagnosed me with suspected CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) last year.

CTE, for the uninitiated, is a form of dementia brought about by continued head knocks.

It’s left me with anxiety, problems with my vocal cords and an uncertain future, which I am navigating the best I can with tremendous support from my family, friends and the rugby league fraternity.

The reason I raise the subject here again today is over concerns with Roosters forward Victor Radley.

This bloke plays the game at a hundred miles an hour with no thought of self-preservation.

He’s the sort of player you’d love to play alongside and hate to oppose.

But his kamikaze approach has come at a high cost.

Radley is currently sitting it out after copping yet another head knock.

That makes it seven game-ending concussions in the past four years.

The thing that concerns me most is Radley is being put out of games with seemingly innocuous knocks or glances.

It’s not always the big collisions – i.e. The Spudd v Chief type confrontations – that are doing the damage.

As I now know, every knock to the head has some sort of impact.

Minor or major, it all adds up over time.

You think you’re bullet proof at 30 but at 50 it’s a different story.

Thankfully, we now have experts on hand to monitor concussions and rule players out of games.

It’s no longer a badge of honour to soldier on and stagger back into the defensive line.

In fact, you’d be considered an idiot for not putting your brain first and removing yourself from the heat of the battle.

Player welfare is rightly paramount and the Roosters, as always, are doing the right thing with Radley and taking a return to football very cautiously.

That’s if he’s back at all.

The Chooks have been down this tricky road before with Boyd Cordner and Jake Friend and have the player’s best interests at heart.

Both Cordner and Friend took the advice of the medical professionals and made the right decision to retire.

Radley, at just 27, is now faced with that same dilemma.

His heart would be telling him to play on, but the head might be telling him something different.

I would never demand a footballer give away something he loves.

That’s a deeply personal decision.

If I were in Victor’s shoes, I’m not sure I would have pulled the plug.

I loved rugby league that much that I’d have played until 100.

But I will say this: There is life after the NRL and plenty of living to be done in your 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond.

And, believe me, it’s a lot easier on you and those around you when you’ve got your full faculties.

I’m sure Victor – and the Roosters - will make an educated assessment of the situation and listen to the experts before coming up with the correct call.

I wish him well with whichever path he chooses.