With hindsight, it felt like it was always going to end this way. So sad, he could have been one of the best in the world.

What a shame, he’s a real loss to the sport. I recall coming on here at a time he was getting a bit of stick for not kicking on and likening him to Sean O’Loughlin. Lockers had a solid but unspectacular start to his Wigan career, improved, then busted his knee and took a while to hit the level everyone knew he was capable of. I saw Stevie Ward as following a similar path if he could get fit and stay fit and after that spell I mention, he did start to move forward (including that hatrick against us at Headingley) but then the injuries came around again.

We don’t produce many players you feel could go on to be World Class in this country and we’ve lost one to the game through no fault of his. A real shame and good luck to him.

Well said. A big loss to the game and to Leeds. Would have been an all time great imo for Leeds. Best of luck to the lad

A very sad to his career . He was a very talented player who produced some magic moments . He always played far above his weight and size , and had that touch of class , that put him above many other players .
As has been said , his health must come first and foremost - here`s to a full recovery and a healthy future.

a sad end to a career but he has to look after his long term health now and he seems a really bright lad so is bound to have plenty of options in the future.

he really could imo have been one of the greats of his era not just in SL but on the international stage had he not been so prone to injury but he he still achieved plenty and left his mark at the club.

Real shame outstanding player when fit but hes an outstanding kid and will be successful in life whatever he does. His long term health has to be the priority hopefully he makes a full recovery.

I'm not convinced it's still down to the head injury sustained. The club have been relatively very quiet about everything considering the context. He was always the standout player from his days at Churwell to being voted player of the year at service area level year after year. Wish him all the best with his future.

It very much is to do with the head issues.
I imagine there's a chance the club are being silent because this whole thing may be being bogged down in litigation.

what an odd opinion.

Litigation over what?

Firstly I didn’t see the interview or show but if Stevie ward is of the opinion he has sustained a serious brain injury I would suggest he is somewhat misguided. Serious brain injuries are indeed serious and normally have huge cognitive, emotional and physical consequences. I am not saying he doesn’t have those but some context is important.

Stevie ward appears to have ongoing consequences of concussion potentially repeated concussions which have caused some relatively minor brain injury. This is a fairly new area in terms of concussion protocol and HIA.

Steve ward did not suffer a prolonged period of unconsciousness (more than 5-10 mins) I doubt he has any prolonged post traumatic amnesia although he could have some, he didn’t suffer a skull fracture from what was reported and I would be incredibly surprised if he had any evidence of neuroradiological abnormality including subdural haematoma, cerebral contusion and or hemorrhagic contusion. Those are some of the basic tools for classification under the Mayo classification criteria for head injury.

The idea there would be some kind of litigation baffles me. Litigation over what? That the club didn’t follow HiA procedure? My recall was he had a head bang, went off and didn’t return and didn’t play again.

Potentially the poor lad has long lasting impact from a concussive event, it can happen but it doesn’t happen often. Just think some perspective over him suffering some kind of major brain injury is a bit disrespectful to those who have or have family members who have suffered serious brain injuries.

All in all very sad if he is going to retire due to this, but the idea there will be some kind of litigation seems absolutely ridiculous to me.

I'm not saying there is or isn't but if an employee suffers significant loss of both livelihood and quality of life due to an incident at work that's often the direction things go.

Only if the employer has been negligent. I imagine he will have received full pay whilst not playing, had access to very high level private medical assistance and investigations. If he could show that the club knew he was vulnerable or sent him back on or suggested he played again when still complaining of an issue then maybe that would be negligent. Playing rugby, suffering a concussion, failing return to play protocol and then not playing again is as far as I can see not negligent in any way.

It's a shame we aren't insured for the loss of such a valuable asset.

It's a shame that Stevie, a young lad with a shed load of ability and who has already had his share of injuries and mental health battles, looks to have played his last game