"Mad Dog" Moody on dementia

The clue is in his nick-name. Now a property developer and supporter of a number of charities. I make no apologies for another concussion/dementia posting as I think the topic will end up changing the face of Rugby Union for ever.

Lewis Moody can remember – just about – his most dangerous brush with concussion. It came at the 2007 Rugby World Cup, in a match against Tonga, when he was knocked unconscious in the first minute of the match.

Today, he would have been removed from the field for a thorough head injury assessment; 15 years ago, players were effectively allowed to make the decision for themselves. 

“If you got knocked out there were a series of questions you needed to answer and display the ability to respond coherently, but I just bluffed my way through the medical stuff,” Moody recalls. “I hadn’t played for two games, so I was desperate to stay on. I pushed the medical staff away and was allowed to continue. That was great in my eyes and they were happy, too.”

Moody went on to suffer another concussion in the same game, but the moment of realisation that he had pushed his body beyond its limits came 24 hours later, when he went to Disneyland Paris with his wife on a team trip. 

“My wife, Annie, said I probably shouldn’t go on the roller-coaster after what happened the day before,” Moody says. “Within 30 seconds, I was suffering from severe headaches. I just wanted to get off. It was the first real awareness for me of the impact concussion can have on the brain.”

Head injuries in rugby, and how to deal with them, is an issue that matters to Moody. His perspective is shaped not just by his own experiences on the field, where his nickname of ‘Mad Dog’ was bestowed precisely because he never flinched from putting his head where it hurts, but by being a father to a sport-mad young son (he coaches his mini-rugby team in Wiltshire), and friend to Steve Thompson, his fellow 2003 World Cup winner who has been diagnosed with early onset dementia. 

Neither is the problem going away. In the last weekend alone, there were two high-profile incidents in European ties: a head injury for Saracens wing Ben Harris, caused by a high tackle from Brive’s Axel Muller, and a sickening clash between Leicester’s Guy Porter and Clermont’s Fritz Lee, which saw Porter sent off. 

It is one of the reasons Moody has become an ambassador for The Drake Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation committed to funding research into the health effects of head injuries in sport and beyond which has played a major role in research around rugby and also the impact of heading in football. 

Last September, World Rugby issued guidance around how much contact training should be undertaken at elite levels, with the key recommendation suggesting no more than 15 minutes of full contact training per week, 40 minutes of controlled contact training and 30 minutes of set-piece training. 

But Moody believes more safeguarding measures must be put in place away from the professional game. 

“For me it is the grassroots, that is the last to see the benefits,” he says. “Until they get them, you are relying on parents to go themselves and research what training should look like to minimise concussion or any other potential injuries.

“You are lucky at a local club on a Sunday if you have a practising first aider. Let alone a doctor or physio… how do we support the grassroots game?” 

If Moody had the power to change one thing in rugby with regard to head injuries, what would it be?

“There should be a clear directive from above on how much contact should be taken in a training week. As soon as you get that across the whole rugby community, all the part-time coaches, including parents, will understand what is acceptable. There is so little need for contact to go on during training.

“Contact is important but there is enough technical work done without collision and contact to make sure a player is proficient at certain aspects of the game to make sure it is safe, particularly at the junior level. But the NFL has shown with their training that technical stuff can be done at a professional level without contact or putting the head in a dangerous position.

“A directive from World Rugby should come down on how much contact is acceptable in a training week or over the course of a season. And then it would be very clear for grassroots rugby what is acceptable, so coaches and clubs can be held to account. 

“You have to remember that grassroots rugby is run by parents who want to do what is best for young people. If they have that directive, they know what to do, but if you don’t have information coming from the experts you are making it up to some degree.”

'Concussion was treated as something you just got on with'

Moody is reassured by the fact that these conversations are now happening more openly within the sport, and has no qualms about his son playing. Certainly much has changed even since he drew his glittering player career – which included seven Premiership titles and two European Cups, as well as his international honours – to a close in 2012. 

“One of the big problems was that the power was in the players’ hands and now it is put in the hands of the medics to remove people. And that is the great progression.

“Honestly, concussion is one of those things that was treated as something you just dealt with and got on with. You certainly didn’t come off the field. And you never really wanted to come off because it wasn’t an injury that stopped you performing. It just felt like something you could get over – not like a broken leg or a torn ligament. There wasn’t a huge amount of understanding around how you rehab and get back fit from it.”

Moody is aiming to improve that understanding through his work with The Drake Foundation, with cases such as Thompson’s simply fuelling his desire to drive for more change and better support for players affected by head injuries, and their families. 

“For me, Steve’s diagnosis has been incredibly sad to hear because we are close. Shortly after my own father also passed away with early onset dementia, so I understand the implications of what it means in the future. 

“Having seen a parent go through early onset dementia I would like to see a support network and a pool of money for players of all standards that played the game to make sure that there is money for them in their hour of need.

“And also to support players with other illnesses and injuries that have come from the game. Seeing the impact of my dad’s early onset dementia – not just on him, but my mum, and the costs that come with that – I would like to see that come from these conversations.”