Player Nathan Wood

[mt.wellington]

Nathan Wood

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Nathan Wood (born 24 January 1972 in Darlinghurst, New South Wales) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer. Wood played in almost every position during his career, from fullback to second-row.

Wood was a Souths junior but made his first-grade début for Balmain in round 17 of the 1993 season. Between 1993 and 2001 he played for the Balmain Tigers, Sydney Roosters and the New Zealand Warriors in the NSWRL premiership, Australian Rugby League and National Rugby League. He then moved to the Super League and played for the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats and the Warrington Wolves. He retired at the end of 2005 due to injury, moving back to Australia to care for his two sons.

During his Warrington career Nat was in the victorious team that played the final game at Wilderspool Stadium in 2003 and was the first try scorer at the new Halliwell Jones Stadium in 2004, both games were against his old club Wakefield.

Wood appeared as a challenger on the 2008 series of Gladiators.

Wood is the son of former Newtown, Norths and Souths halfback, Barry Wood, and brother of The Contender Australia winner and former Souths player Garth Wood.

Nathan Wood (rugby league) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Nathan Wood - Playing Career - RLP

A summary of the career stats for Nathan Wood, a rugby league player who played for the Balmain Tigers, the Sydney Roosters, the Warriors, the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats and the Warrington Wolves.

www.rugbyleagueproject.org

 

[Shogun]

NRL world sends flood of support after Roosters great Nat Wood goes public with sad plight​

NRL fans are rallying around former Roosters player Nat Wood after he revealed he's been diagnosed with probable CTE. The 53-year-old was a cult hero for the Roosters, playing 78 games for the club between 1995 and 2000.

He also played 19 games for the Balmain Tigers from 1993 to 1994, and 17 games for the Warriors in 2001. He was known as one of the toughest players in the NRL before he finished his career in the English Super League with Wakefield Trinity and Warrington.

Outside of his career with the Roosters, he made a name for himself while playing 90 games for Warrington between 2002 and 2005. But speaking on SEN radio on Tuesday, Wood opened up about the effects of playing in an era before concussion protocols.

The 53-year-old revealed doctors have told him he's likely got CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), which is a brain disorder that can only be diagnosed properly after death. Wally Lewis, Mark Carroll and Mario Fenech have also been diagnosed with probable CTE in recent years, while Corey Parker admitted last year he has no doubts he's also got it.

"About 18 months ago I was diagnosed," Wood said on SEN radio alongside former Roosters teammate Bryan Fletcher and ex-NRL player Joel Caine. "The only reason I found out was because a mate of mine in England (was speaking about it).

"I asked him what the symptoms are and I was like 'mate I've had that for ages'. He said 'you've got to get tested' and I initially didn't want to know, but he said 'you've got to know'. There's no cure for it or anything like that as of yet.

"I knew there were things going on with me that weren't normal, but I just kept it dark (to myself) as you do. I ended up getting tested and got a pretty poor result. I got 133 scans and 108 were abnormal."

Nat Wood (R) in action for the Warriors in 2001. (Image: Nigel Marple/ALLSPORT via Getty)
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Wood played in an era where toughness and courage were commended to the extent that players went back on the field after serious head knocks. Nowadays, there are more stringent rules around ruling players out of games after they've been concussed, as well as how long they have to sit out afterwards.

Wood revealed he was hospitalised after his first serious head knock at Under-21 level, and estimates he was knocked out at least twice per season throughout his career. "When I had my first really serious concussion, I went home and went to sleep and lost my eyesight," Wood revealed. "I was in intensive care for two days, completely blind. I had to have a year off footy and start from scratch.

"When I came back, from that time to when I retired I probably got knocked out twice a season. The chances of coming through that unscathed are pretty much zero."

 

[WAH MAN]

Terrible long term fallout. Sheesh.