Josh Jones retired at 30 after fearing he couldn't look after his own children

24 October 2023 , 08:49

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Jones was forced to call time on his career last month

When Josh Jones realised he couldn’t play with his kids without enduring body tremors or sickening headaches, he knew he had to quit rugby league.

The ex-Great Britain international, 30, retired last month after finally conceding it wasn’t safe to continue pulling on the boots. He suffered a head injury representing Huddersfield against Wigan in March but never fully recovered from the concussion and didn’t play again. In his first interview since, the hard-running former St Helens, Salford and Hull second-row has revealed the true turmoil he’s gone through.

Jones said: “I still struggle with my concussion symptoms. My main one is headaches, pressure in the head and tremors on the right side of my body so my right hand shakes doing certain things. I’ve issues with my sleep, speech and balance plus anxiety stuff. If hit on the head I was getting visual symptoms where I couldn’t see.

"I’ve had issues with my eyes throughout my career in terms of pain. I’ve not necessarily developed a twitch but I started to have to really crunch my eyes to get rid of pain. Then it led to a time where if I got a little knock on the head I’d get visual symptoms.

"Effectively I couldn’t see. That was leading to problems outside of the game: I’d have to sit in a dark room and wait 'til the symptoms went and then I could see again. It was the visual symptoms that scared me a lot.”

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Jones with his wife and three children

And Jones, who has started a new career as a financial advisor/mortgage broker, admitted things simply got too frightening following that last concussion.

He recalled: “My body just reacted really badly to it. I tried different strategies and scenarios to get me to a level where I could play again. But I just didn’t feel like it was safe for me to play with those symptoms. After months of trying to get back fit, speaking to neurologists, me and my family thought it was the best and safest decision for me to not go back. It’s been a very emotional couple of months.”

Josh has now started working as a financial advisor after being forced into early retirement

Grand Final winner Jones explained how hard things got as he tried to rehabilitate, especially seeing the effect it had on his young family Fia, 7, Grayson, 6, and Coen, 4.

He said: “One of the things I didn’t like was it was affecting my ability to be a father: playing outside in the garden with my children, catching balls and not shaking or being able to go on the trampoline without getting a headache. Where would I be at 35 if that’s my reality now at 30?

“I had some really honest, serious talks with my family. It’s been very upsetting but at the same time, my wife, kids and family have to come first. It wasn’t right for me to put them in that position. My health just became more important than my job. I think it’s right. And I’d advise the same with any player.”

David Craven