Harawira-Naera collapses during NRL match

Corey Harawira-Naera collapsed late in Canberra’s match against South Sydney.
Photo: Photosport

Canberra forward Corey Harawira-Naera could be discharged from hospital as early as today after collapsing on the ground and experiencing a seizure mid-game against South Sydney.

Shortly after taking a hit-up in the second half on Saturday night, Harawira-Naera appeared to become disoriented and fell to the turf.

The match at Sydney’s Stadium Australia stopped for more than 10 minutes as medical staff rushed onto the field and attended to the New Zealand international, who had begun convulsing.

Harawira-Naera was conscious and responsive by the time he was transferred from the field in a medicab and into an ambulance.

He travelled to Westmead Hospital with his sister, who had been a spectator at the game.

Just after 11pm on Saturday night, the Raiders provided an update on Harawira-Naera’s condition.

“He’s improving and feeling better and will hopefully be discharged from hospital and return home to Canberra tomorrow,” a statement posted to social media read.

“We will provide further updates early in the week.

“Thanks everyone for your concern and thoughts tonight, it’s much appreciated.”

No player harboured more concern for Harawira-Naera on Saturday night than Albert Hopoate, who roomed with the second-rower for three years.

The pair are still close mates, FaceTiming or catching up most days, and the Raiders winger was visibly distressed when Harawira-Naera went down.

“Obviously it was pretty scary at the time,” Hopoate told AAP.

“You don’t expect anything like that to happen, especially in a game. There aren’t many words.”

Canberra captain Jarrod Croker abandoned all thoughts of the contest as his teammate lay on the ground.

“For that whole period, I don’t think anyone was thinking about football, to be honest,” he said.

“Everyone was just looking out for Corey and doing whatever we could.”

Raiders coach Ricky Stuart praised both his players and South Sydney’s for rushing to Harawira-Naera’s side after he fell.

The players encircled the 28-year-old to give the medical staff privacy as they worked on him.

“That’s when you see the real character of these footballers,” Stuart said.

“When one of the boys go down, it doesn’t matter what team he’s on, everyone got around the fact that it was a serious situation.

“There was a lot of care out there for him. That’s appreciated by all our players and club, how the Souths boys handled it as well.

“No one likes to see those serious types of scenes.”

South Sydney skipper Cody Walker spoke on behalf of his club after the match when he sent his best wishes to Harawira-Naera.

“It’s not something you want to see on a footy field. We go to battle on the field and we want to hurt each other in a clean way but you never want to see a player like that,” Walker said.

“On behalf of everyone at the club, we want to send thoughts and prayers to his family.”

Stuart said doctors were unsure what caused the incident.

“It was awful. I just spoke to the doctor and he said it was a seizure and they’re unsure why,” he said.

“It doesn’t seem to be any contact to the head, they’re at a loss as to why it occurred.”

The Raiders regrouped after Harawira-Naera left the field and vowed to keep playing in his honour, eventually triumphing 33-26.

“Jarrod Croker, he’s our leader and Jamal Fogarty, those two are pretty good leaders and they always know what to say in moments like that,” Hopoate said.

“We got in a huddle after that and said we’ll do it for Corey, and we did.”

AAP/ABC