#4 Heads Up - Interview with Nick Youngquest

Episode 4: Ed Daly speaks to Australian model and former professional rugby league player Nick Youngquest. During his National Rugby League career, Nick played mainly as a winger with teams such as the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, St. George Illawarra Dragons, Penrith Panthers and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, and in the UK for the Gateshead Thunder, Celtic Crusaders and the Castleford Tigers.

In this episode, Nick speaks to Ed about his experiences with concussion injuries, many of which went undiagnosed the protocols that were in place during his time playing and what lead to his further retirement. Nick opened up about the seizures he suffered following his retirement in 2012. While he also shares how he established the "Athletes 4 Life (A4L) charity" to help other athletes transition into retirement through running marathons.

About the podcast:
The Heads-Up Podcast are a series of interviews with ex-professional male rugby players, elite female players and coaches about concussion in the sport. The podcasts discuss their early careers and very open commentary about the realities of professional rugby. Heads-Up discusses insights into injury (specifically concussion), how they managed then and how they continue to manage with life after a professional career. The players offer insights into the culture around the game, their concussion experiences and their observations on player welfare, protective equipment and law changes to the game.  

About Ed Daly:
Ed Daly has over thirteen years of experience in sports coach education and more than five years of lecturing experience in third-level institutes. Ed is currently a PhD researcher focused on investigating concussion identification, concussion management and concussion reduction strategies.

Ed is an active PhD research scientist (Oxford Brookes University) specializing in concussion education, managing athlete workload, objective concussion diagnosis and post-concussion management. Currently developing research for the Irish Concussion Research Centre (ICRC) based in GMIT.

Ed is a lecture in Galway Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) in the area of Sport & Exercise Science within the School of Science & Computing. Programme coordinator for MSc (strength & conditioning).

Before moving to a career in lecturing, Ed worked in professional sports and spent over ten years as a coach with Munster Rugby, coaching age-grade players on the professional player development pathway and in injury incidence reduction via workload management (specializing in the area of strength & conditioning).

Contact Details:
Ed Daly
Email: Ed.Daly@gmit.ie

Published by:
Emma.Finnegan
Email: Emma.Finnegan@gmit.ie