Two Athletes, One Tough Call: When Stepping Away Becomes the Bravest Play
In Rockhampton, 15-year-old Riley Mansfield hung up his boots. In Wollongong, Tom Eisenhuth did the same. Two athletes, two generations, one difficult truth: sometimes the hardest decision in sport is knowing when to walk away.
Riley’s exit from rugby league didn’t come from a lack of talent, it came from too many concussions, too young. The symptoms were serious: vomiting, migraines, light sensitivity. School became an uphill climb. Play was no longer play.
His mum, Kristy, watched it unfold. Weeks off school. Careful returns to light. A kid being forced to slow down before he even had the chance to speed up. “It was rough,” she said. And after medical advice, Riley was told to stay out of contact sport for five years. So he made a pivot to softball, where he's already earned state and national call-ups. Different sport, same fire.
Riley’s decision to walk away isn’t an isolated story. It echoes further up the ranks, where even seasoned pros are facing the same brutal reality. Just two days ago, former NRL player Tom Eisenhuth also announced his medical retirement, this time after 83 top-level games and months sidelined by concussion.
Different paths. Same outcome. Whether you’re 15 or 32, the message is starting to ring louder: no game is worth your long-term health.
Eisenhuth’s career wasn’t handed to him. He grinded through six years of waiting, training, recovering, proving again and again that showing up off the field matters just as much as what you do on it.
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In 2024 alone: 908 tackles. 1,613 metres. 23 offloads. An Immortals Award. But still, he chose to walk away.
“This is a health decision based on putting my family first,” Eisenhuth said. “There’s a lot of life after football. I want to be able to make the most of that.”
It wasn’t easy. It never is when the game doesn’t let you leave on your own terms. But Tom leaves with impact. Every club he touched , the Panthers, Storm, Dragons and he left better than he found it. Now, he shifts gears into a new role with the Dragons, mentoring the next wave of talent. Same love for the game. Just a new position.
Riley and Tom, two names in two different lanes, but united by something deeper. Their stories raise a bigger conversation around concussion, youth safety, and what we expect from the bodies and minds of our athletes.
Because it’s one thing to play tough. It’s another to know when to choose yourself and do it with your head held high.