Concussion forces teen rugby player to retire amid tackling age warning

Australia Broadcast Center

29-05-2025

Riley Mansfield grew up wanting to play for the North Queensland Cowboys like his idol Johnathan Thurston.
He was on all the right pathways, playing in the elite Dolphins Cup competition in Queensland.
But the promising teenage footballer has hung up his footy boots and retired, aged 15, following repeated concussions.
"I want to be back out there."
Riley's mum, Kristy, said his head knocks were so bad, her son spent weeks vomiting and feeling sick afterwards.
"He was suffering significant kinds of symptoms, so very, very light sensitive, noise sensitive, severe headaches and he's got a pretty strong pain threshold," she said.
"It took us about six weeks to gradually introduce him back into normal activities, so that meant he wasn't able to do school for a period of time.
"As a mum it's been hard because just knowing how much your son loves football and playing and he's such an active kid."
An expert is now warning children should not be involved in tackling in sport until they are at least 12, after releasing joint research last month.
"One of the big reasons is they have obviously a larger head and weaker neck muscles, which puts them at a little bit more risk of some of those rotational linear forces," said Griffith University lecturer in exercise science and physiology Joel Garrett.
"Plus, with that developing brain they potentially may be at greater risk of [harm to] long-term brain growth and development as well," Dr Garrett said.
So why the age of 12?
"Around the ages of eight to 12 is a sweet spot for children's cognitive and motor development," Dr Garrett said.
"An eight-year-old, for instance, may struggle with the rapid judgements required to align their shoulder and brace their neck properly when tackling a moving player.
"By the age of 12 they may have the ability to make those last-second changes if need be and execute a good tackle that's both safe for them but also the person they're tackling."
But Dr Garrett said delaying full-body contact — such as tackling — in junior sport remained controversial.
"We don't want it just to be like, 'No tackling,'" he said.
"We firmly believe that we need a progression to that and having a really structured plan."
For the Mansfield family from Rockhampton in rugby league heartland in central Queensland, Riley's latest concussion in April was a case of deja vu.
Riley's dad, Andrew, suffered a broken neck on the same football field in Mackay at the same age of 15.
"That was my last game of footy," Andrew said.
"I was the width of a piece of hair to not walking ever again."
After consultation with a team of neurologists in Brisbane, Riley has been told not to return to contact sport for five years.
Kristy said she hoped that all sporting codes across the country continued to shift attitudes regarding concussion through education and awareness like rugby league.
"Riley's grown up with footy and it's great to see that the sport is taking it seriously and ensuring that the players are taking the time out they need to be able to recover before they go back and play again," she said.
With Riley's dreams of playing in the NRL are over at the tender age of 15, the talented teenager has turned his focus to another sport.
Every weekend, Riley hits the softball diamonds, along with his parents, and he has already earned state and national team selection.
"He's got a massive future [in softball] and can whack a golf ball too … but still can't out drive Dad yet," Andrew said.