The care of retired NRL players has again come under the spotlight after Blake Ferguson accused the organisation of abandoning him to his health issues.
Ferguson, who broke his nose multiple times during the course of a 13-year rugby career with several clubs, has had to pay for his own medical expenses to fix issues he now suffers, including sleep problems.
The former Eels player took to Instagram to vent his frustrations with the system, which requires players to attend to their injuries within 12 months of retirement to receive compensation from the NRL.
"After playing 15 years in the NRL system, playing 249 games for four NRL teams, winning a grand final, seven games for Australia, nine games NSW ... and breaking my nose over eight times, you'd think they'd fix it," he wrote.
"I dedicated my life and body to the game.
"But no, I have been told because I went to Japan and England and it has been over 12 months, that I'm not eligible for the medical treatment to fix it.
"What the go? Deadset person struggles to sleep at night and puts bums on seats for yas and you wanna just throw a person to the kirb (sic) once they are retired.
"Absolute joke."
Increasing awareness of long-term injuries
Indigenous Pathways Manager with the NRL and former great Dean Widders sympathised with Ferguson's sentiments.
"I'm in the same boat," he told NITV.
"I broke my nose while I was playing, and was instructed by my club to wait until the end of my career to get it fixed.
"I went to England and when I came back... I found out I couldn't get any of that done. None of that was explained to me."
It comes after months of increasing attention of the injuries faced by NRL players, and their long-term effects.
An inquiry which began last year heard harrowing stories from players who had suffered significant head traumas during their careers.
"All the injuries I have are from playing rugby league," said Widders.
"The body pays the price, and you carry that pain around."
'We have to get better'
Speaking as an employee of the organisation, Widders said the NRL had an obligation to look at the way it handles player injuries.
"It's where we have to get better. We've got to improve this stuff for injuries.
"Perhaps it's a record-keeping issue, but something needs to be done to say that if you've injured yourself at a club level, you can still get that fixed at whatever stage of your career.
"I'm not sure what it [should be], I just know they need to do something, because most retired players have long-term existing injuries from the game that [we] can't get fixed now."
