Rugby league legend Mario Fenech and his wife Rebecca have opened up about his battle with early onset dementia in the hope that his plight will alert younger sportspeople in contact sports to the dangers of repeated concussions.
In an interview aired on Sunday night on Seven’s Spotlight program, the 60-year-old former star bravely spoke about his battle to stave off the insidious condition.
His memory capabilities have been reduced dramatically in recent years to the point where his wife is virtually his full-time carer.
Fenech struggles to remember simple tasks and repeatedly tells the same stories to friends and family because of his condition.
(Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
“There are times I get real bad anxiety stuff,” he said, after being prompted on the correct word to use by his wife. “It’s not much fun having brain damage, mate, because literally I forget things like that,” he added with a click of his fingers.
His neurologist, Sydney dementia specialist Dr Rowena Mobbs, said Fenech was in an advancing stage of early onset dementia and would soon need to be put into full-time care.
Dr Mobbs said Fenech presented as a classic case of Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) due to the many knocks to the head he suffered on the football field.
“He’s in advancing CTE. It won’t be long before he needs care,” she said. “CTE is a type of dementia so gradually your neurons wither away in the brain, there’s a loss of brain tissue due to the head knocks, the head injuries.
“Over time it will get worse and eventually he will end up needing care and dying from it.”
She said scans showed Fenech’s brain was similar to a dementia patient in their 80s rather than someone who turned 60 late last year.
Mario Fenech with North Sydney teammate Sean Hoppe in 1993. (Photo by Getty Images)
When asked if his light-hearted demeanour was a coping mechanism, Dr Mobbs said that was not the case..
“He’s not using anything (to cope) because he’s not aware of anything,” she said. “He’s in a constant repetition.”
Fenech worked with the NRL in an ambassadorial role but retired a few years ago due to his health struggles.
Given the nickname of “Test match” during his playing days because that was the intensity he brought to every game, Fenech copped many concussions during his career.
He played 275 matches in a first-grade career which kicked off with South Sydney in 1981 and also included a four-year stint with Norths and a final season with the South Queensland Crushers before he retired at the end of 1995.
Fenech, represented NSW in two Origin matches in 1989, was renowned as one of the toughest competitors in a rough era for the sport and was known for putting his body on the line with big hits or thunderous charges into the defensive line.
“Rugby league in this generation is a lot more safer than when I played,” he said. “In those days you could do anything. It was kill or be killed in our era.
“But in saying that I wouldn’t change a thing. I really enjoyed my 15-year challenge of playing rugby league and enjoyed my time at Souths and it was brutal in those days, but that’s the way it was.”
After retiring, he was a regular member of The Footy Show on Channel Nine for a decade and his wife revealed in the Spotlight interview that she and the rest of the Fenech family were unhappy with the way he was portrayed on the show.
Often the butt of jokes and pranks, he would often return home in a foul mood after recording shows due to how he was treated.
Rebecca said she thought he was singled out and “they took the mickey out of him” because he wasn’t one of the boys as someone who didn’t gamble or hang out with the crew for a beer after the show.
She also said his condition had put them under significant financial pressure and sadly, she was unsure what the future would hold for her husband.
“The latest scan with Rowena showed an incredible deterioration, she said she hadn’t seen a brain like it so that’s where we’re at,” she said.
“His jokes we’ve heard a million times. They’re funny but it’s not funny when he’s got CTE.”
Birdy
Roar Rookie
I just saw a clip where Fatty disputes that. I hope it's true. Fatty and Sterlo seem like straight shooters.
Birdy
Roar Rookie
Yes I was shocked about that
ozziedude
Roar Rookie
Same was dissapointed to hear fatty and co basically cast him adrift
Womblat
Guest
There are two parts to that question mate, incidental and intentional, and my answer to the second is yes. The vast majority of concussions are the first, and it's unavoidable, uncontrollable, and the nature of the sport. If you want to get rid of that, then you need to get rid of the sport. That, from me, gets a huge no. I wish more people thought the same.
Womblat
Guest
And thousands didn’t. That coincidence too?
Gray-Hand
Roar Rookie
A rugby league player with a 15 year career was diagnosed with dementia at the age of 53. Pretty big coincidence.
Womblat
Guest
It's this very same whimsical "the Doctor said it, so it must be true" no-questions-asked thought process that is running this debate and threatening the sport. Have you never been misdiagnosed? Heard of a medical case mishandled? This is a doctor's opinion, not a diagnosis. Research CTE yourself, please, it can be inferred from symptoms but can only be medically diagnosed post mortem. That's not my opinion, that's just fact. I'm not saying he doesn't have it, nor that League isn't responsible for it. But that's opinion too. Please also remember Mario himself said "I wouldn't change a thing". So many people in this debate forget that. It's almost religious how emotive this subject has become.
andrew
Roar Rookie
:laughing:
andrew
Roar Rookie
The NRL has to bring in a mandatory period for standing players down. That's the bottom line Sheek. Not a he'll be right in a week b.s. that currently is the norm for a lot of cases.
Robbo
Roar Rookie
There you go.... I said it
Robbo
Roar Rookie
I think head gear should be compulsory
Bill
Guest
Another shock for me was apparently Tedesco passed his hia then regressed. This throws a spanner in every hia test if every player can regress so quickly.
Gray-Hand
Roar Rookie
What is the “agenda” you refer to?
scrum
Roar Rookie
Just watch the game- it’s clear and obvious. It’s beyond me why trying to eliminate high tackling will ruin the game. What will ruin the game is being sued out of existence. There have been huge payouts in the NFL - they have the financial muscle to manage that. In Rugby Union where high tackles get sent off whereas in the NRL some of those tackles would struggle to even be penalised they are being sued in the UK. It’s only a matter of time for the NRL.Unless they can present a case they have been proactive in managing dangerous head contact they are on a very slippery slope. Medical experts are pretty united already on the dangers. But as I said the Super round in Brisbane where they applied the rules was howled down by the media and public. So the NRL prioritised placating the fan base in lieu of player safety.
Gray-Hand
Roar Rookie
He was diagnosed with CTE at the age of 53 (by an actual doctor who examined him in a clinical setting).
Womblat
Guest
I do bother to read your comments but you don't have any evidence at all. "Too many shoulder charges"? When? "High shots ignored"? Whose? "Foul play accepted for years"? By who? "The evidence is out there"? Where? Too much opinion, not enough fact. That's what will ruin the sport.
scrum
Roar Rookie
If you bothered to read my comments I plainly stated brain damage is impossible to eliminate from contact sports, it’s about mitigating the risk as much as possible. If you think foul play is being well managed in the NRL you are in dream land. The one serious attempt was given up on in a matter of days because of fan and media outrage at the number of penalties. All the Refs did was actually apply the rules. The NRL lacked the courage to maintain the stance. There are too many shoulder charges which are high impact ruled as legal and too many high shots ignored. The culture of the NRL is that foul play has been accepted as part of the game for years. May be all well and fine at the moment but when the class action Law suits start coming in it may be too late to avoid financial ruin.
sheek
Roar Guru
Andrew, The players aren't saints either. They chase the money hard. In fact, players have been in bed with big business in taking the innocence out of sport. They want the big bucks as much as anyone. And the HIA has been brought in despite resistance from the players, their coaches & clubs. Yes, "players first, profits second". But it's been a really hard road for those advocating the changes.
Womblat
Guest
I'd disagree, high shots are policed. Now more than ever but I gather you don't think enough. It's hardly relevant. Nearly 70% of concussions in League occur in the defender, with no foul play involved. Even if the other 30% was foul play, which it isn't, it's still the vast majority of concussions in the game, and it's unavoidable unless you ban tackling. Do you honestly believe it's possible to avoid all concussive contact in League without doing that?
scrum
Roar Rookie
Gould – I recall a game where a player took a swinging arm direct to the head. The player dropped to the ground like a sack of spuds. As he tried to stagger to his feet in a dazed state Gould commented – “ nothing in it play on”. After a couple of minutes when the player got his senses back that is exactly what happened ; just played the ball. Unbelievable. So common sense is just carry on as we are . The evidence is out there. So it will degrade the game by taking out high shots – which have always been against the rules but never enforced.