- Rugby league legend hospitalised with incurable disease
Balmain rugby league greats are rallying around their former Tigers teammate Michael ‘Mick’ Neil, who is struggling with Parkinson’s disease.
Neil, the wiry, tough-as-teak playmaker who retired from the game in 1994, has been in Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital for three weeks fighting the incurable condition.
His memories are reportedly fading, his speech is slurred and just getting out of bed is a battle.
Club legends Benny Elias, Steve Roach, Paul Sironen and John Elias visited their friend on Friday.
‘Everyone loved Mick,’ Benny Elias told News Corp.
‘I never once heard anyone bag him, ever.
Tigers legends (left to right) Paul Sironen, John Elias, Steve Roach and Benny Elias visited Mick Neil (second from right) in hospital on Friday as he battles Parkinson’s disease
Much-loved Balmain great Michael Neil (pictured) played in two grand finals for the Tigers and was renowned for his toughness despite his slender build
‘It’s not fair that he’s going through this. He’s deadset the nicest bloke in the world.
‘If you saw him without the footy gear, you’d never think he was a rugby league player.
‘He was small in size, but had a giant heart, and was as tough as a front-rower.’
Neil admitted the diagnosis had hit him hard, but displayed the grit he was known for on the field as he swore he would fight it.
‘I’m struggling, mate,’ he said.
‘I don’t know what’s ahead, but I’m not about to give up. I’m going to beat it.
‘I don’t know how, but I’ll be trying my hardest.’
Last year, former Balmain, Wests Magpies, and South Sydney forward John Bilbija died at age 65, succumbing to early onset dementia after a decade of battling the debilitating disease.
Neil has been in Sydney ‘s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital for three weeks
The ex-footballer, who had lost much of his cognitive ability, died peacefully in his sleep at his Penrith home.
‘It’s very sad but may have been a blessing in disguise because John was not the same guy we knew and loved,’ former teammate Wayne Innes told Channel Nine at the time.
‘He personified toughness on the paddock but it doesn’t matter how tough you are – once you contract this illness, it gets you all.’
Bilbija was part of a worrying wave of former players that developed dementia later in life, including his former South Sydney teammate Mario Fenech.
John’s wife of 43 years, Michelle, recently opened up about how challenging it was caring for the former footy star in his latter years.
‘We knew as he grew older he’d have arthritis and knee replacements – but we never expected this,’ she said.
