Polwart pulls pin to start new life post-concussion
IF rugby needs a poster boy in its ongoing battle against the ravages of concussion, it could do a lot worse than Sean Polwart.
Polwart is a 26-year-old Auckland, Blues and Chiefs loose forward who recently announced his retirement from rugby because of a concussion received on the training field in February, 2015. He still feels the symptoms from a knock he thought nothing of at the time, but which would ultimately haunt him to the not-so-bitter end.
His head may still at times be a little foggy but his mind is crystal-clear. Polwart walks away from his beloved rugby with no resentment, no regrets, and no doubts about the path ahead. Concussion may have robbed this former age-grade world champion of his firstchoice career, but he is damned if it’s taking his life with it.
So Polwart has made the only decision he could. He has picked up Plan B and run with it.
The Aucklander never entertained this as his end point in rugby but he also understood the volatility of the career path he’d taken. His contracts tended to go year to year, and selection always seemed a battle. He figured a day would come when life after rugby kicked in, and planned accordingly.
Polwart’s outside-of-rugby ‘‘passion’’ had always been landscaping. He studied it when he left school and maintained his interest through his career. Now it’s his saviour, as he embarks on a business that will be the cornerstone of his future.
‘‘I was never prepared enough to walk straight out of rugby and into a career, but what I did have was a passion outside of rugby that I knew could lead to career,’’ he says. GETTY IMAGES ‘‘Because my [rugby] career never had long-term security I was always wondering what could I do.’’
Polwart banged his head while training with the Chiefs, and never played again as the days became weeks became months became years, and the symptoms failed to clear.
‘‘The first few months are tough because you’re trying to get back on the field, but as time goes on and you have your health struggles your priority changes,’’ he reflects. ‘‘It went from wanting desperately to play to just wanting to get back to 100 percent health. The decision [to retire] became easier for me just knowing I had to move on.’’
Polwart experienced headaches, nausea when he exercised and a general fogginess since taking the knock. Those symptoms have abated, but not disappeared. Around a year ago he realised he would never play rugby again.
Polwart will now never know how good he could have been as a rugby player. But he steadfastly refuses to count himself as ‘‘one of the unlucky ones’’.
‘‘Life goes on, and it’s another challenge for me now,’’ he says.
‘‘Bitterness gets you nowhere. I might have played another five to seven years, but at some point rugby would end. It just happened a little earlier for me.
‘‘I’m getting better every day. My No 1 goal has always been to get back to 100 percent health, and that’s something I’m still striving towards. But I’ve come a long way.
‘‘It’s not easy knowing you can’t play again, but it’s easy knowing you’re not risking your health any more. I have no regrets. Rugby gave me so much, I consider myself lucky.’’