Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, this might be a sign of things to come. A former NRL player is suing his club. Lloyd Perrett is taking the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles to court. Perrett is suing the club for millions of dollars. According to his legal team, the prop forward collapsed and had a seizure at pre-season training back in 2017. It’s being alleged that he was starved of water. His last memory of that session was waking up in hospital. Perrett’s lawyer argues the incident cut his career short. The Brisbane junior attempted to make a comeback in 2018, but he only managed 10 games. He tried again in 2019. He lasted just five. Perrett signed a $500,000 contract with Manly in 2016. He was seen as a long-term player at the club. Lawyer Peter Carter said this, “Given that he was a very successful player at such an early stage of his career, with arguably many good years ahead of him, the potential damages are well into the millions of dollars.” And I’m pleased to say that his lawyer, Peter Carter from Carter Capner Law, joins me on the line. Pete, good morning to you.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
Good morning, Peter.

Speaker 1 (01:16):
I really do appreciate you joining me on the show this morning. Look, I know there are limited things that you can say, but let’s try and get to the bottom of what we can talk about this morning. Do you think, Pete, just moving forward, that this might set a precedent, this case?

Speaker 2 (01:30):
Well, look, this case is based on the unique circumstances, the tragedy that Lloyd suffered, but the duty of care that clubs owe to players, that’s beyond dispute. And when it’s breached in such a serious way that occurred here, I think lawsuits will occur. Yes.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
I was saying earlier in the program, rugby league supporters, and I’m guilty of it as well, Pete, we’ll often see images of preseason training. They’ll see players running up hills. They’ll see, you know, players riding on pushbikes, you know, whatever the case may be. And look, we saw it here at the start of the year, and Michael Maguire, the coach of the Brisbane Broncos, was heavily criticized for pushing his players to the brink of exhaustion. And quite often people will just say, “Oh, look, you know, toughen up your footy players, you’re paid well,” but that’s not the case, Pete. They’re human.

Speaker 2 (02:21):
That’s right. And look, the scientific evidence is very clear that there’s a very serious risk in the circumstances of preseason training, where the rest-to-work ratio needs to be considered. And there needs to be appropriate rest breaks given the players’ reduced level of fitness at that time of the year and the heat in November.

Speaker 1 (02:47):
Hmm. That’s another thing people don’t realize. It’s just how hot it is. I mean, we appreciate it here in Brisbane. He’s training in Manly. I lived in Manly, or it’s actually in Brookvale. I lived in Brookvale as well. I know how hot it can be. But can I ask you this, Pete, do you accept that you will have your critics?

Speaker 2 (03:03):
Uh, look, I think the critics will understand once they read the scientific evidence and the medical evidence. Remember that a very similar event occurred nearly exactly three years later to another Manly player, Keith Titmuss.

Speaker 3 (03:17):
Mm-hmm .

Speaker 2 (03:17):
Keith tragically died as a result of his heat stroke. And the coroner’s report that came out in May last year was damning of the training regime on that occasion, which was almost identical to the situation in which Lloyd found himself: no hydration, insufficient rest breaks. And that man unfortunately died.

Speaker 1 (03:45):
Yeah. Now, Lloyd says, Pete, the last thing that he remembers is waking up in hospital. There’s an expectation that you have to be tough, and I understand that, but many will agree with you that it can be taken over the top. And the claim was here, and you’ve mentioned it, but the claim is that the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles starved this player of water.

Speaker 2 (04:04):
That’s right. It was some sort of training regime meant to toughen up the players. “No, you can’t have any water. No, you can’t rest any longer. Go for your next time trial.” Mm-hmm. So it happened on the third time trial, a lot of heat stress, and it was too much for Lloyd as it was for Keith three years later. Mm-hmm.

Speaker 1 (04:30):
My guest this morning, it is 13 after seven. My guest this morning is lawyer Peter Carter. He’s representing a former NRL player by the name of Lloyd Perrett, who is suing the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles because of an incident that happened back in 2017, where he suffered from major heat exhaustion, ended up in hospital, and that cut his career short. Pete works for Carter Capner Law here in Brisbane. It’s a very interesting case. Now, Pete, I want to ask you about the Manly club and comment, if you can. How have they reacted? Has it been sympathetic to his cause?

Speaker 2 (05:05):
Well, first of all, I need to make the point that the claim is against the insurer for the club.

Speaker 1 (05:11):
Of course. Yep. Yep.

Speaker 2 (05:12):
It’s really a commercial game for the insurer as to how well they respond to the claim. But the club itself, we first approached them last year for disclosure of documents. They cooperated with that. That’s about as much as I can say.

Speaker 1 (05:33):
Okay. Okay.

Speaker 2 (05:33):
…position.

Speaker 1 (05:34):
Okay. So they’ve cooperated. That’s as much as you can say. Oh, well that’s good to hear. And I’m sure the rest of it will be played out in court, so we’ll find that out. Now he signed a contract worth half a million dollars, and I think people at home will be wondering, you know, what sort of money you’re going after. But look, I sympathize with him as well. If you sign a contract worth half a million dollars, that’s what you are worth. I mean, your manager and the club agrees, “Hey, yep, this player, he’s got potential. He’s a long-term player at the club, and he’s worth half a million bucks.” So he has every right now, because his earnings were cut short, he couldn’t play. He has every right now to say, “Well, you know, perhaps I could have been playing for eight, nine years.”

Speaker 2 (06:11):
Well, that’s what we contend. That was a contract signed in 2016, nine years ago.

Speaker 3 (06:18):
Mm.

Speaker 2 (06:18):
He had at least a decade career ahead of him. He was in the Queensland State of Origin emerging squad. He was in all sorts of elite squads, and he had a very, very promising career. And but for this incident, he would be up there with the greatest at the moment.

Speaker 1 (06:38):
Yeah. And I think you have every right to argue your case. Um, now just on the club itself, again, I know it’s against the insurer, but can you let us in on whether there’s a disclosure the players need to sign before preseason training? I’m sure there’s something they sign before they sign on the dotted line.

Speaker 2 (06:58):
Well, the club has its own medical staff. They conduct fitness examinations of players. The NRL have their own policies. It’s an NRL contract. So, everyone’s bound by the NRL rules. Interestingly after this incident, before the Keith Titmuss’ death, the NRL changed its heat policy. So, I think the situation is that the science is reliable and Lloyd has been denied a very promising career. Mm-hmm.

Speaker 1 (07:39):
. Now just on the Rugby League Players Association and Clint Newton. And I know that Clint is, you know, when it comes to looking after players, I don’t think there is a person that cares more about the players than Clint Newton, let’s put it that way. Have you been in touch with the Rugby league players association? Is Clint involved in any way?

Speaker 2 (08:00):
Look, in the course of assembling all our evidence, and I prefer not to talk exactly at the moment about who the witnesses are, but there will be some leading lights in the game being asked to support Lloyd’s case.

Speaker 1 (08:14):
Okay. Yeah. And they’re okay. Perfect. Alright. So just on Lloyd, what’s he up to now these days?

Speaker 2 (08:21):
I beg your pardon? Yes, Lloyd. Yeah. Lloyd’s doing his very best mm-hmm to support himself and his family. Mm. And he’s not playing footy. He plays footy socially.

Speaker 3 (08:35):
Mm-hmm.

Speaker 2 (08:35):
. He certainly can’t play in a representative grade anymore. And he is, I take my hat off to him the way that he’s approaching the catastrophe that happened to his career.

Speaker 1 (08:48):
Yeah. Good on you, Peter. I really appreciate your time this morning. This is a case that we will watch with great interest and hopefully we can catch up again in the future when we’ve got a bit more of an update.

Speaker 2 (08:57):
Thanks very much, Peter.

Speaker 1 (08:58):
There he is. That’s Peter Carter of Carter Capner Law here in Brisbane. Good fella and I reached out to him yesterday. I thought this was a very interesting case. Look, I’d like to throw it over to you. I’ve been brutally honest here when I say that I have been entertained by watching footballers run up Mount Coot-tha, watch them cycling, doing sand dunes, doing hills, doing all those sorts of things. I’ve been entertained for many years watching that sort of stuff on television. But what about you and what about this young kid, Lloyd Perrett, do you think he has a case? Let me know your thoughts on it. 133 882, the open line number or 0499 88…