Head on: concussion and rugby league

Recovered: with his mother, Paula. Photo: James Brickwood

Spirits were high in the NSW town of Bathurst as old foes Dubbo Senior College and Orange High rolled into town in June last year to take on the locals for the Astley Cup.

Dating back to 1923, and the oldest annual tri-school sporting competition in the state, few events on the Cup's schedule had been more eagerly anticipated than Bathurst High's rugby league clash against Dubbo, and eyes were on the school's talented 16-year-old, Tyler Horton.

A keen golfer, and with a fearsome reputation for smacking the seamers around the region's cricket fields, Tyler had used his speed and skill on the rugby pitch over the previous eight seasons to stake a strong claim on the five-eighth position of Bathurst's rugby league team, despite being one of the smallest players on the field.

Tyler Horton playing rugby league before his injury. Photo: ZENIO LAPKA

After an uneventful first half, the ball landed in Tyler's hands and he took off. As a sharp-eyed Dubbo player pounced, the left side of Tyler's head connected with his much larger rival's shoulder, whipping his neck back from the impact.

Shaking off the tackle, Tyler moved behind and played on.

"I remember it pretty clearly," he says. "It was a hard hit, but I didn't feel a huge contact to my head."

Tyler Horton sporting his post-surgery scar.

Minutes after returning the ball to play, dizziness started to wash over the young player and he began to lose sensation in his right leg. Stumbling to the sideline, where sister Emily and father David were watching, he crumpled to the ground.

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Head on: concussion and rugby league