Radley’s ‘bad taste’ Instagram post sparks outrage over concussions and binge drinking

In an astonishingly tone-deaf social media post, Sydney Roosters star Victor Radley and the club have come under fire for glorifying head injuries and binge drinking in a now-deleted Instagram image.

The post, shared in celebration of Radley’s 150th NRL game, showed the English international holding a t-shirt screen printed with the jarring slogan: “150 games, 38 concussions, 26 send-offs, 6852 beers.”

The post, which was live for only a short time before being taken down, drew immediate backlash from concussion experts and rugby league fans alike.

For Dr. Alan Pearce, a Melbourne-based neurophysiologist specialising in concussion and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), the promoted message was deeply concerning.

“I was disappointed that there was this sort of glorification of brain injuries through how many concussions he’s apparently had,” Dr. Pearce told Wide World of Sports on Monday.

“But two: it shows that we need to be doing more education and awareness throughout these sports because it says to me that they have — I’ll be blunt — no clue about the short- and long-term risks of repeated concussions.”

The post was intended as a light-hearted celebration of Radley’s milestone, after the Roosters’ 42-16 upset win over the Sharks on Saturday.

But in the context of growing action and awareness about concussion-related brain trauma in rugby league, including the links to dementia and CTE, the image came across as plain insensitive, not to mention irresponsible.

The Sydney Roosters, a club historically known for prioritising player health, most notably with the early retirements of Boyd Cordner and Jake Friend in 2021 due to concussion concerns, should have known better.

“Just by removing a post, it doesn’t necessarily excuse them,” Dr. Pearce continued.

“And also, it causes more confusion because people will not know why they took it down. Most people won’t know. They [the Roosters] have gone, ‘Oh, shit, we’ve made a mistake.’”

“Well, apologise, own up to it, and actually use it as a learning moment to say, ‘We removed the post because we do not condone concussions, glorifying concussions, it’s not a badge of honour, athlete health and wellbeing is our highest priority.’”

The post was taken down quickly after the backlash, but the real question is: why was that kind of message posted in the first place? And why did it take public outcry for the Roosters to catch it?

Love Rugby League reached out to the Sydney Roosters for a comment on Monday, but as of now, we’ve yet to hear back from the club, who have not issued any statement on the topic.

It seems on this matter; the club is quite keen to put their head in the sand.

Radley, still young at 27 years of age, has had his fair share of concussions, and while the club has shown concern for his well being in the past, this Instagram post raises serious questions about their commitment to player health in the public eye.

Given the club’s track record with player health – such as their cautious approach to Luke Keary’s head injuries in 2022 – this incident feels out of step with their usual commitment to player safety.

Maybe the Roosters media team got swept up in the excitement of Radley’s milestone game and the upset win over the Sharks – fair enough, that happens.

But when you’re caught red-handed, it’s better to own up to the mistake than to pretend the tone-deaf imagery, which touches on serious, real issues in rugby league, just didn’t happen.