Former Huddersfield Giants and St Helens player confirms degenerative brain disease diagnosis

[josie andrews]

The Great Britain representative has confirmed the news on social media.

Former Hull FC player Josh Jones has been diagnosed with a degenerative brain disease. The 31-year-old posted the sad news on social media this Wednesday morning, with the ex-player, a former Great Britain international, revealing that he has Stage 2 chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

CTE is a condition thought to be linked to repeated head injuries and blows to the head. It slowly gets worse over time and leads to dementia, but the right help and support can manage the symptoms.

Jones, meanwhile, was forced into early retirement last year after repeated concussions that hindered his Huddersfield Giants career. He joined the West Yorkshire club after a seven-game spell at Hull in 2020.

Before that, Jones had played for Salford Red Devils and St Helens. He also had a spell in rugby union at Exeter Chiefs, making over 250 appearances in his 12-year career.

"My friends and family, After a challenging few months, I wanted to share that I have been diagnosed with stage 2 chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)," Jones posted on social media.

"The news has come as a shock for me and my family and has brought significant changes to my life and the lives of those closest to me. My family and I appreciate your support through this difficult period. Much love, Josh."

https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/sport/ru ... s-29648660

[the pieman]

The Great Britain representative has confirmed the news on social media.

Former Hull FC player Josh Jones has been diagnosed with a degenerative brain disease. The 31-year-old posted the sad news on social media this Wednesday morning, with the ex-player, a former Great Britain international, revealing that he has Stage 2 chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

CTE is a condition thought to be linked to repeated head injuries and blows to the head. It slowly gets worse over time and leads to dementia, but the right help and support can manage the symptoms.

Jones, meanwhile, was forced into early retirement last year after repeated concussions that hindered his Huddersfield Giants career. He joined the West Yorkshire club after a seven-game spell at Hull in 2020.

Before that, Jones had played for Salford Red Devils and St Helens. He also had a spell in rugby union at Exeter Chiefs, making over 250 appearances in his 12-year career.

"My friends and family, After a challenging few months, I wanted to share that I have been diagnosed with stage 2 chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)," Jones posted on social media.

"The news has come as a shock for me and my family and has brought significant changes to my life and the lives of those closest to me. My family and I appreciate your support through this difficult period. Much love, Josh."

https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/sport/ru ... s-29648660

hope he's able to live some form of life post playing the game, and i think this highlights / shows what the game is doing to reduce head hits is the right thing (i'm one for the biff)

what could be interesting, and i dont know if there has been any analysis is which code has he suffered most impact / hits to the head as he played RL and RU?

[Blackpool_Pie]

Where's the 'games gone soft' crew?

Very sad. 31 is absolutely no age to find that sort of news out

[nathan_rugby]

Sad news

Injuries and related struggles post retirement are part of sport, but injuries / diseases like this are not.

[moto748]

Where's the 'games gone soft' crew?

I just hate that. Just look at the slew of star players unavailable right now across SL and the NRL. And awful news like this.

[Ipinwigan]

Where's the 'games gone soft' crew?

I just hate that. Just look at the slew of star players unavailable right now across SL and the NRL. And awful news like this.

Whilst this is sad news, it's something that can happen within sports with potential for head trauma, boxing, Union and League etc.
Injuries have always been part of the sport and all other sports, but people still put themselves through it, because they want to, no one is forcing them to do it.
Head trauma has only become more prevelant over the last few years and it is trying to be eradicated.
The only way to prevent head trauma, is to stop playing the sport, or change the sport beyond all recognition, walking tag-rugby, not a sport for mass appeal.
Even acting hard on head tackles, head clashes etc., head injurues will never be prevented, get a low tackle wrong and the tackler can clash their head with a hip.
If the game is to continue as a great spectator sport, then all people must realise that there will always be potential injuries, unless the nanny state finally take over.

[Barney841]

Where's the 'games gone soft' crew?

I just hate that. Just look at the slew of star players unavailable right now across SL and the NRL. And awful news like this.

Whilst this is sad news, it's something that can happen within sports with potential for head trauma, boxing, Union and League etc.
Injuries have always been part of the sport and all other sports, but people still put themselves through it, because they want to, no one is forcing them to do it.
Head trauma has only become more prevelant over the last few years and it is trying to be eradicated.
The only way to prevent head trauma, is to stop playing the sport, or change the sport beyond all recognition, walking tag-rugby, not a sport for mass appeal.
Even acting hard on head tackles, head clashes etc., head injurues will never be prevented, get a low tackle wrong and the tackler can clash their head with a hip.
If the game is to continue as a great spectator sport, then all people must realise that there will always be potential injuries, unless the nanny state finally take over.

I agree.
As awful as it is, these players play for the love of the game. Unfortunately we have aftermath injuries such as this.

[nathan_rugby]

I just hate that. Just look at the slew of star players unavailable right now across SL and the NRL. And awful news like this.

Whilst this is sad news, it's something that can happen within sports with potential for head trauma, boxing, Union and League etc.
Injuries have always been part of the sport and all other sports, but people still put themselves through it, because they want to, no one is forcing them to do it.
Head trauma has only become more prevelant over the last few years and it is trying to be eradicated.
The only way to prevent head trauma, is to stop playing the sport, or change the sport beyond all recognition, walking tag-rugby, not a sport for mass appeal.
Even acting hard on head tackles, head clashes etc., head injurues will never be prevented, get a low tackle wrong and the tackler can clash their head with a hip.
If the game is to continue as a great spectator sport, then all people must realise that there will always be potential injuries, unless the nanny state finally take over.

I agree.
As awful as it is, these players play for the love of the game. Unfortunately we have aftermath injuries such as this.

There’s a difference in playing for the love of the game and knowing you might be a bit stiff and have aches and pains vs confirmed CTE and retirement at 31…

Whilst injuries are part and parcel of sport, there is so much evidence showing the detrimental impact of head trauma.

A reduction in head contacts + relevant protocols is an absolute must, I’m unsure how anyone could disagree.

Where I have issue is with inconsistency in decisions / reffing and sin bins for head shots that are no fault of the defender.

[Ipinwigan]

Whilst this is sad news, it's something that can happen within sports with potential for head trauma, boxing, Union and League etc.
Injuries have always been part of the sport and all other sports, but people still put themselves through it, because they want to, no one is forcing them to do it.
Head trauma has only become more prevelant over the last few years and it is trying to be eradicated.
The only way to prevent head trauma, is to stop playing the sport, or change the sport beyond all recognition, walking tag-rugby, not a sport for mass appeal.
Even acting hard on head tackles, head clashes etc., head injurues will never be prevented, get a low tackle wrong and the tackler can clash their head with a hip.
If the game is to continue as a great spectator sport, then all people must realise that there will always be potential injuries, unless the nanny state finally take over.

I agree.
As awful as it is, these players play for the love of the game. Unfortunately we have aftermath injuries such as this.

There’s a difference in playing for the love of the game and knowing you might be a bit stiff and have aches and pains vs confirmed CTE and retirement at 31…

Whilst injuries are part and parcel of sport, there is so much evidence showing the detrimental impact of head trauma.

A reduction in head contacts + relevant protocols is an absolute must, I’m unsure how anyone could disagree.

Where I have issue is with inconsistency in decisions / reffing and sin bins for head shots that are no fault of the defender.

As I have already said, you are never going to eliminate head contact, unless you stop playing the game or change it completely, so they either accept it or give up

[nathan_rugby]

I agree.
As awful as it is, these players play for the love of the game. Unfortunately we have aftermath injuries such as this.

There’s a difference in playing for the love of the game and knowing you might be a bit stiff and have aches and pains vs confirmed CTE and retirement at 31…

Whilst injuries are part and parcel of sport, there is so much evidence showing the detrimental impact of head trauma.

A reduction in head contacts + relevant protocols is an absolute must, I’m unsure how anyone could disagree.

Where I have issue is with inconsistency in decisions / reffing and sin bins for head shots that are no fault of the defender.

As I have already siad, you are never going to eliminate head contact, unless you stop playing the game or change it completely, so they either accept it or give up

But you can try to reduce head contact with increased punishment and changes to rules. They’ve already proved that it is working with a reported reduction in number of head contacts.

Nobody has said that eliminating head contacts is the goal or is what is required either so where are you getting that from?

Should they get rid of seat belts because they don’t save every single life that is in a crash?