Aspiring footy star Riley Mansfield is forced to retire due to the savage effects of head knocks – and he’s only 15

A promising teenage rugby league player from Queensland has been forced into early retirement due to repeated concussions, prompting renewed calls to delay tackling in junior sport. 

Riley Mansfield, 15, was competing in Queensland’s elite Dolphins Cup competition when he sustained a series of head injuries that left him unable to attend school for weeks.

Riley, who had dreams of playing for the North Queensland Cowboys like his idol Johnathan Thurston, said watching football now is bittersweet. 

‘I wish I could play every time I watch the footy on TV. I want to be back out there,’ he told ABC Sport. 

His mother, Kristy, described the severity of her son’s symptoms following his final concussion in April. 

‘He was suffering significant symptoms – 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. That meant he wasn’t able to do school for a period of time.’

After consultations with neurologists in Brisbane, Riley was advised not to return to contact sport for at least five years. 

For the Mansfield family, it’s a painful case of déjà vu. Riley’s father, Andrew, suffered a broken neck on the same football field in Mackay when he was 15. 

‘That was my last game of footy,’ Andrew Mansfield said. 

‘I was the width of a piece of hair from never walking again.’

The Mansfield family’s story has reignited debate around tackling in youth sport, particularly in light of growing research into the long-term impact of repeated head trauma. 

Griffith University lecturer Dr Joel Garrett has warned that children should not be involved in tackling until at least age 12. 

‘One of the big reasons is they have a larger head and weaker neck muscles, which puts them at greater risk of some of those rotational forces,’ he said.

Dr Garrett explained that children between the ages of eight and 12 are at a critical stage in cognitive and motor development. 

‘An eight-year-old may struggle with the rapid judgements required to execute a safe tackle. 

‘By 12, they may have developed the ability to make those last-second adjustments.

‘We’re not saying ‘no tackling,’ but there needs to be a structured plan leading into it.’

In response to growing concerns, the NRL implemented its Player Development Framework in 2024 to improve safety in junior competitions. 

Under the changes, children aged six and under play League Tag, a non-contact version of rugby league. 

For under-sevens, the season is split into two halves – beginning with League Tag and transitioning into tackle later in the year. 

At senior levels, the NRL has strengthened its concussion protocols. Stand-down periods, independent medical assessments, and increased penalties for breaches are now standard. 

In 2023, the league launched a brain health initiative to fund research into chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head trauma.

CTE has been diagnosed in several former players, including Paul Green, Quentin Pongia and Steve Folkes, who were found to have the condition after their deaths. 

Mario Fenech, another former NRL star, has publicly detailed his struggle with cognitive decline believed to be the result of repeated concussions during his playing career. 

The disease, which can only be diagnosed posthumously, causes symptoms including memory loss, aggression, and confusion.