RIP Chester Williams

[TigerCraig]

Fourth member of the Invictus team to leave the field too early

 

[Ian_Cook]

Fourth member of the Invictus team to leave the field too early

Yeah, what the hell is it with this group? These guys were all middle aged...

James Small 50
Ruben Kruger 39
Joost van der Westhuizen 45
Chester Williams 49

 

[beckett50]

Real shame. He blazed a trail and had a reasonably successful coaching career when he retired from playing.

 

[L'irlandais]

Yeah, what the hell is it with this group? These guys were all middle aged...

James Small 50
Ruben Kruger 39
Joost van der Westhuizen 45
Chester Williams 49

Steroid abuse? amongst any other things Professional rugby players abuse.

Doctors told me they had seen former players struggling with heart conditions after years of steroid abuse. People in rugby spoke privately about coaches telling young wannabes to “bulk up” and even sometimes handing out the tablets.
...
Many steroid users also take other drugs, and there are mixed views on the dangers of excessive bodybuilding. But the risks are clear from numerous tragic cases, and my view is that we can’t afford to wait for definitive research.
..
If admitting a problem is the first step towards solving it, I don’t yet feel overwhelmed with optimism about rugby.

If we were to compile a list of retired players from the professional era who have died far too young I think the reality of the situation might hit home.
Johah Lomu(40)
Jerry Collins (34)
Dylan Mika (45)
Ian Williams (27)
Paul Van-Zandvliet (50)
Sione Lauaki (35)
Source

World Rugby needs to be doing more than printing Keep Rugby Clean T-shirts. Certain underage coachs need to be sent to prison for pushing this poison. One of my friends at the local club, can’t drink a beer with us because of kidney problems. He freely admits it is due to a period of body building he undertook while playing for a professional rugby league squad. If you wanted to be in the starting XV you had to bulk up.

Steve Booth death: Former Leicester Tigers and Bath rugby player dies, aged 42
2016
Munster’s Anthony Foley was only 42 when he past away.
Kurtis Haiu (31)
Fidji’s Seru Rabeni (37)

What’s the bet that the numbers of deaths per year has been steadily growing since 1995?
The greatest shame is that it is avoidable, this game of collisions is no longer an enjoyable game of skill and quick thinking. The running rugby where the aim was to slip thru’ the gap is gone. Now the idea is to be 118kgs of muscle and run directly into the other bloke so he gets stretchered off, where is the skill in that? No wonder there are an unexceptable number of on field deaths from concussion and broken necks in the scrum. WTF?

 

[Ian_Cook]

Steroid abuse? amongst any other things Professional rugby players abuse.



If we were to compile a list of retired players from the professional era who have died far too young I think the reality of the situation might hit home.
Johah Lomu(40)
Jerry Collins (34)
Dylan Mika (45)
Ian Williams (27)
Paul Van-Zandvliet (50)
Sione Lauaki (35)
Source

World Rugby needs to be doing more than printing Keep Rugby Clean T-shirts. Certain underage coachs need to be sent to prison for pushing this poison. One of my friends at the local club, can’t drink a beer with us because of kidney problems. He freely admits it is due to a period of body building he undertook while playing for a professional rugby league squad. If you wanted to be in the starting XV you had to bulk up.

Steve Booth death: Former Leicester Tigers and Bath rugby player dies, aged 42
2016
Munster’s Anthony Foley was only 42 when he past away.
Kurtis Haiu (31)
Fidji’s Seru Rabeni (37)

What’s the bet that the numbers of deaths per year has been steadily growing since 1995?
The greatest shame is that it is avoidable, this game of collisions is no longer an enjoyable game of skill and quick thinking. The running rugby where the aim was to slip thru’ the gap is gone. Now the idea is to be 118kgs of muscle and run directly into the other bloke so he gets stretchered off, where is the skill in that? No wonder there are an unexceptable number of on field deaths from concussion and broken necks in the scrum. WTF?

No, just no!

You are not just barking up the wrong tree, you are barking the wrong forest!

Jonah Lomu had a serious kidney disease called nephrotic syndrome and died from a heart attack related to that disease. There is no known link between steroid abuse and nephrotic syndrome.

Joost van der Westhuizen died from motor neurone disease. There is no known link between steroid abuse and motor neurone disease.

Ruben Kruger died after a 10 year battle with brain cancer. There is no known link between steroid abuse and brain cancer.

Jerry Collins died in a car accident. There is no known link between steroid abuse and car accidents.

Dylan Mika died from a heart attack related to his Type 2 diabetes. There is no known link between steroid abuse and diabetes.

Kurtis Haiu died from a rare form of bone cancer called "Ewing's Sarcoma, which is cause by a chromosome mutation. There is no known link between steroid abuse and Ewing's Sarcoma

Paul Van-Zandvliet died from an inoperable brain tumour. There is no known link between steroid abuse and brain tumours.

In the case of Pasifika and dark-skinned people who die of kidney related illnesses, it is already known that this group are at a far higher risk such illness.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16774006

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160310214132.htm

I'd be looking there first when it comes to Pasifika and black players dying from renal related illnesses before you go waving around unfounded allegations of players abusing steroids!

 

[Decorily]

Steroid abuse? amongst any other things Professional rugby players abuse.



If we were to compile a list of retired players from the professional era who have died far too young I think the reality of the situation might hit home.
Johah Lomu(40)
Jerry Collins (34)
Dylan Mika (45)
Ian Williams (27)
Paul Van-Zandvliet (50)
Sione Lauaki (35)
Source

World Rugby needs to be doing more than printing Keep Rugby Clean T-shirts. Certain underage coachs need to be sent to prison for pushing this poison. One of my friends at the local club, can’t drink a beer with us because of kidney problems. He freely admits it is due to a period of body building he undertook while playing for a professional rugby league squad. If you wanted to be in the starting XV you had to bulk up.

Steve Booth death: Former Leicester Tigers and Bath rugby player dies, aged 42
2016
Munster’s Anthony Foley was only 42 when he past away.
Kurtis Haiu (31)
Fidji’s Seru Rabeni (37)

What’s the bet that the numbers of deaths per year has been steadily growing since 1995?
The greatest shame is that it is avoidable, this game of collisions is no longer an enjoyable game of skill and quick thinking. The running rugby where the aim was to slip thru’ the gap is gone. Now the idea is to be 118kgs of muscle and run directly into the other bloke so he gets stretchered off, where is the skill in that? No wonder there are an unexceptable number of on field deaths from concussion and broken necks in the scrum. WTF?

Does that qualify as a rant?
Not sure what exactly your point (or your implication) is!

EDIT Beaten to it by above!!^^

 

[L'irlandais]

Yes, it constitutes a rant. Why, because many in the Rugby community choose to turn a blind eye to this problem. On RRF too it seems.

The list of those who have died before their time is far longer than we shall ever know.
There are medical reports studying the link between steroids and kindey damage.
[LAWS]the use of anabolic steroids has risen to alarming proportions in recent decades. Although effects on kidney function are uncommon, some cases have been documented in which a combination of anabolic steroids and creatine supplements has caused kidney damage. [/LAWS]Damaged kidneys can cause hypertension (raised blood pressure). Sure the links with certain cancers remain unproved, the professional era only started 24 years ago. Look at any videos of rugby in the amateur era, the morphologies are completely different. The bulking up is a reality in modern rugby, ask any 16 year old who dreams of turning pro. And the damage to the adolescent body is far greater, so the next generation will have increased problems.
There most definitely is a link between all the bodybuilding and the increasing number of premature deaths. While no link with steroids has been should. The simple fact of retiring from the professional scene, former players stop the daily programme. The loss of muscle is evident fairly quickly. If they don’t keep fit the gain in fat can be detrimental to their sporting activities.

You don’t have to believe it, that’s fine. It will become self evident over time.

 

[L'irlandais]

Duplicate post.