EXCLUSIVE
Former rugby league star Robbie O’Davis has been thrown out of his home by his ex-cheerleader wife as he continues to struggle with the devastating effects of a progressive brain disease.
The shock split follows an ugly incident in which the Newcastle Knights legend pleaded guilty earlier this year to domestic abuse and resisting arrest.
Louise O’Davis, who supported the former football star as he battled his debilitating brain condition, confirmed the split and said she ultimately had no choice but to end their troubled marriage.
“It was hard to stay, but even harder to leave,” she told Ny Breaking Australia. “(But) I had to do what was right for my daughter and myself.”
Her ex, a star footballer, said it was easier for him to back out completely. He told Ny Breaking Australia: ‘We have nothing together… so it was an easy task.’
“I won’t see her anymore and I won’t even try,” he said.
O’Davis’ second wife, once a cheerleader for the Knights, said she asked the former State of Origin and Australia fullback to move out of their suburban Newcastle home in May and they had lost touch.
“(My daughter and I) are fine. I paid him and kept my house,” she said.
Robbie O’Davis and his former cheerleader wife Louise have split after his progressive brain disease caused irreconcilable problems in their troubled marriage
The decorated Newcastle Knights legend believes his condition is linked to the repeated knocks he suffered during his explosive 243-game domestic and international career
“I don’t know how he is, we’re not together anymore.”
O’Davis – known to fans as ‘Robbie O’ – is struggling with symptoms of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
CTE is an incurable brain disease associated with repeated traumatic brain injury. It can lead to early dementia and premature death.
The creeping disease has left him with constant mood swings, disturbing behavioral changes, and severe depression, causing him to repeatedly consider suicide.
The two-time winner of last year’s championship said he nearly jumped off a cliff after downing an entire case of 24 beers and throwing the empty bottles over the edge, causing them to shatter on the rocks.
“I was sitting on the edge and drinking a pack of beer and I would throw one over the edge and I would look at it and when it broke I would think, ‘I’m going to follow it,’” he told 7News Spotlight.
The depressions became so bad He repeated the grim ritual on the clifftop six times.
He said he had resisted the urge to end his life at each opportunity after thinking of his teenage son and daughter.
He said he was completely unaware at the time that his mood swings and depression were symptoms of CTE.
He was eventually diagnosed with the condition in April last year by Dr Rowena Mobbs, Australia’s leading CTE clinic.
He is convinced that the disease was caused by the repeated hard blows he received during his successful national and international career of 243 matches.
The 51-year-old – who now works as a labourer in Newcastle – pleaded guilty in February in Belmont District Court to one count of domestic violence and one count of assault and obstructing/obstructing police in the performance of their duties.
At sentencing, he was placed on an 18-month conditional release order (a type of parole order), which was set to expire in August 2025.
The charges relate to an incident last November.
“The victim and the suspect went out for dinner with friends and drank alcohol,” according to the facts presented to the court.
‘In the early morning hours, the victim and the suspect got into a verbal argument.’
The court was told the dispute escalated to physical contact, with the victim falling to the ground. The incident was captured on security camera.
Police say O’Davis resisted and hindered arrest when officers were called and was then taken to a police van.
O’Davis was known for his aggressive approach to the game and suffered a particularly serious injury where he shattered his nose and broke the roof of his mouth after an on-field collision in 2003
Louise O’Davis, a former cheerleader for the Knights, helped him in his battle with the disease
O’Davis appealed his sentence on May 27, but told Ny Breaking Australia he ultimately decided to accept the loss and move on with his life.
“I withdrew my appeal the day it was in the paper, left after that and never came back,” he said.
“She’s been an ex for a long time, thanks for indulging in something that’s nobody’s business.”
Mrs O’Davis previously described the devastating effects of her ex-husband’s condition, including extreme memory loss.
“It’s frustrating, but also disturbing,” Louise told Spotlight last September.
‘Robbie forgot to pick up one of the kids from theater this week. I spoke to him at 3:30 in the afternoon and he said, “I’m going home from work now and I’m leaving soon.”
“Then my daughter called and said, ‘There’s no one to pick me up.’”
O’Davis admitted he is terrified of the disease and the effects it will have on him.
The impact was so great that he can no longer remember an entire period of his life, such as his performance in the 1997 ARL final, where he was awarded the coveted Clive Churchill Medal for best player.
“All I can remember is playing for a good team, for a city,” he said.
‘Even when I watch the grand finale now, I’ve seen them so many times I can’t remember ever doing them.’
Reflecting on his career, which saw him play for Queensland and Australia, O’Davis said his height (just 1.72m) likely made him vulnerable as he regularly tried to get under tackles.
“I was a small guy in a big guy’s game, so my height allowed me to dive through opponents’ forearms and it was a habit of seeing stars, getting hit and seeing stars,” he said.
‘I was buzzing with stars and people were cheering. It became an addiction.
“If I don’t see stars and I don’t run as hard, then I don’t perform and I don’t have a good match.”
An alarming – and rising – number of former rugby league, Aussie Rules and rugby union players have been diagnosed with CTE. This is also true for many other athletes from contact sports around the world.
O’Davis pleaded guilty to domestic violence after a night out with friends
The disease is often associated with athletes who suffer repeated blows to the head and especially concussions.
There may now be stricter rules to protect players who have suffered a head injury, but that doesn’t help the legends of the game, which stopped playing long ago.
The NRL set up the Life After Football Foundation last year to help fund medical costs, such as the cost of annual brain scans for former players.
O’Davis was one of many former stars who led campaigns to obtain key codes to help former players.
Ny Breaking Australia has asked him for comment.
For free mental health support call Lifeline Australia: 13 11 14
For support with anxiety and depression, call Beyond Blue: 1300 22 46 36
WHO IS ROBBIE O’DAVIS?
Robbie O’Davis was born in 1972 in Kurrajong, NSW and grew up in Toowoomba, Queensland.
He made 223 appearances for Newcastle Knights, scoring 78 goals, setting up 45 goals and scoring one field goal, from 1992 to 2004. He is regarded as the club’s best full-back.
Robbie O’Davis was born in 1972 in Kurrajong, NSW, but grew up in Toowoomba, Queensland
O’Davis won two championships with Newcastle (1997 and 2001) and won the Clive Church Medal for best player in the 1997 Grand Final against Manly, in which he scored twice.
He played twelve State of Origins games for Queensland (1995–2002) and eight games for Australia (1995–1998).