The rugby league great, who played 223 games for the Knights, is battling the symptoms of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) which is a progressive brain disease that is connected with repeated traumatic brain injuries and dementia.
“I was a little man in a big man’s game so my height level was ducking through (opposition players) forearms and it was a habit of seeing stars, getting hit and seeing stars,” Robbie said.
Asked about what he remembers from his two premierships that he won with the Newcastle Knights, Robbie struggles to recall any details about the games.
“All I remember is that I played for a good team, played for a town,” Robbie replied.
“Even watching the grand finals now, I’ve watched them that many times, I can’t remember doing them.”
Depression and mood swings are symptoms of CTE, and as life got so bad for Robbie, he contemplated the same suicide attempt while sitting on the edge of a cliff six times.
"[…] she (Dr Rowena Mobbs, one of Australia’s leading concussion and CTE experts) said that he (Robbie) has one of the worst brain scans that she’s seen,” she said