Latest fromThe Longest Goodbye: Rugby and the Dementia Dilemma
![First for NZ rugby: Non-contact grade starts tonight](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
First for NZ rugby: Non-contact grade starts tonight
Union aims to boost playing numbers by widening rugby's appeal.
![Dylan Cleaver: Why I've changed my mind about kids and contact sport](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Dylan Cleaver: Why I've changed my mind about kids and contact sport
Head injuries are the focal point of health concerns in contact sport.
![Exclusive: End contact sport for kids, experts warn](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Exclusive: End contact sport for kids, experts warn
The long-term dangers of kids playing contact sports could outweigh the benefits.
![Why we don't need to worry about Crotty](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Why we don't need to worry about Crotty
Big symptomatic accidents like Crotty's are not the real problem in collision sports.
![Eddie Jones: 'It was a bit like a horror movie'](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Eddie Jones: 'It was a bit like a horror movie'
No matter what he does, nothing seems to be working for the England coach.
![Concussion danger worse after 25 games a season](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Concussion danger worse after 25 games a season
Rugby still leads the way in ACC claims and costs.
![Rugby star donates his brain to science](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Rugby star donates his brain to science
EXCLUSIVE: Junior AB John "JJ" Williams hopes his story will help others to seek help.
![A bad week for concussion deniers](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
A bad week for concussion deniers
Study that found 110 cases of CTE in 111 brains inherently biased but vitally important.
![Former All Black takes his own life](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Former All Black takes his own life
All Black who objected to sporting contact with apartheid South Africa, dies in Australia.
![Rugby star's journey back from concussion](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Rugby star's journey back from concussion
A serious concussion left rugby player Riki Hoeata in a "fog". He's now fighting his way through it.
![Rugby damaged my brain: test star](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Rugby damaged my brain: test star
COMMENT: There has been serious attention paid to concussion in sport recently.
![Young designer strikes a blow](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Young designer strikes a blow
A young Aucklander has won a top technology prize for a concussion-detecting mouthguard as the links between sport concussion and dementia continue to grow.
![Midweek Fixture: Getting ahead of a head problem](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Midweek Fixture: Getting ahead of a head problem
Sports concerned that the media narrative on concussion is ahead of the science are masking their own deficiencies.
!['Impact of tackles like a car hitting a wall'](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
'Impact of tackles like a car hitting a wall'
Former players whose dementia symptoms have only recently been linked to concussion will be the first of many cases to come forward, says former Wallaby.
![Editorial: NZ Rugby sensitive to players' dementia](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Editorial: NZ Rugby sensitive to players' dementia
Few newspaper revelations have had a greater impact in rugby-mad New Zealand than those of Herald sportswriter Dylan Cleaver's in March.
![NZ Rugby to investigate concussion-dementia link](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
NZ Rugby to investigate concussion-dementia link
NZ Rugby has partnered with Statistics NZ to try to determine whether the lasting impacts of concussions while playing rugby increase the risk of dementia.
![Rugby research caught in the breakdown](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Rugby research caught in the breakdown
Last year representatives from World Rugby, NZ Rugby and AUT delivered the results of a study into the health of retired rugby players. Behind the united front, there were divisions.
![Even mild head knocks risky](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Even mild head knocks risky
A Kiwi study has found that even "mild" traumatic head knocks can cause long-term problems for the victims.
![Don Battley: Let's hope rugby stories make dementia a 'sexy' illness](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Don Battley: Let's hope rugby stories make dementia a 'sexy' illness
COMMENT: What gets to me is that our modern culture can fly a machine to Mars to sample its soil, but can't understand what makes the human brain fail.
![Rugby and dementia: Let's keep talking](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Rugby and dementia: Let's keep talking
Sandy McNicol will never go down as one of the great All Blacks, but he might go down as one of the most principled.
![Alan Duff: Dementia diagnosis hardest on families](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Alan Duff: Dementia diagnosis hardest on families
COMMENT: A departure from being a meaningful human being. We don't wish it on any family. The good news is a cure is becoming increasingly likely.