‘It’s not a very comforting topic’: Lachlan Croker opens up on difficult journey back to footy after three-month concussion battle

Veteran Sea Eagles hooker Lachlan Croker will make his NRL return this week after missing more than three months due to lingering concussion symptoms which left him dizzy and with eye issues as a result of a tackle gone wrong on Canberra’s Josh Papalii.

Croker hasn’t played since May 3 but will make his comeback against the Raiders on Saturday after getting through a NSW Cup game two weeks ago.

The tackling machine is no stranger to serious injuries, and he knew this latest head knock was a lot different to previous ones after he was rocked while trying to tackle the Canberra prop forward during the second half.

Croker went through the mandatory 11 day concussion protocols after the incident, but things didn’t improve as the weeks went by.

“It wasn’t a big knock, but I didn’t feel great in the weeks after with headaches and that sort of stuff,” he said.

“That’s when I realised that this probably wasn’t going to be as straightforward as what I thought it was going to be because I’d never had symptoms after a head knock.

“That was something that frazzled me a little bit, but moving into the next few weeks and months, it was more to do with my eyes and balance and that sort of stuff. That was something very different to what I’d dealt with before.

“There’s not so much of a pathway back that’s as black and white as when you do a hammy so that was the most difficult thing for me.”

Croker has dealt with serious knee injuries and other head knocks throughout his career, but he concedes this one was scarier given what was at stake for his future health.

“Any injury is daunting, but when you’re talking about something that you can’t replace, it’s not a very comforting topic,” he said.

“The conversations I’ve had with our doctor and neurologists indicates that everything is fine and will be all right.

“It’s just about dealing with things that are a result of the knock, not so much dealing with what’s inside my head.”

The decision to return now comes on the back of Croker feeling much better in recent weeks, with the dummy-half not worried about what might happen on the field given he’s had a few knocks at training and has felt fine.

He’s just keen to get back on the field after a challenging couple of months where he had to get off social media for a while to avoid having to explain his condition to people time and time again, even if he knew they were only trying to help.

“The headaches affected me early on, and that was something that was visibly not myself so it was easy for everyone to see,” he said.

“The month after that, it was my eyes not focusing properly. It’s hard to explain, but things didn’t feel as normal or as clear as they should have.

“That’s difficult when you’re trying to explain it to people because it’s not great to say ‘I’m not playing because I’m dizzy and my eyes don’t work properly’.

“You talk about it all the time because everyone asks how you’re going and they only want the best for you, but to speak about it every day with 20-30 different people impacted me a little bit as well even though they had my best interests at heart.”