Matt Scott still does not like to talk about it. Even sharing the story of how his life entirely changed leaves him feeling embarrassed.

“It’s admitting a weakness,” the Queensland Maroons great tells this masthead.

“But you’ve got to understand it’s not weak to ask for help.”

Scott will go down as one of the more formidable props of the NRL era, his 15-year reign at the North Queensland Cowboys culminating in 22 State of Origin appearances.

But even after recovering from a dislocated shoulder in 2019, an injury which proved the catalyst for his retirement, the 2015 premiership-winner did not receive a fairytale ending.

A defeat in Newcastle was followed by some post-game beers. The next morning, Scott felt something was wrong.

“When they said the word ‘stroke’, I was really surprised,” Scott recalled.

“I actually thought I was hungover to start with. I was really nauseous, and I didn’t feel good at all, which I thought was strange because I didn’t have much to drink.

“I went for a swim and came back and started packing my bags to leave, and I couldn’t stop throwing up.

“We got on the bus to the airport, and it was the same thing – just throwing up the whole way, much to everyone’s amusement. We stopped in Brisbane and I went to stand up when we landed, and I couldn’t stand up – I could hardly walk.

“I had a strange feeling down one side of my body, I couldn’t walk in a straight line, I was dizzy, but I shrugged it off as a few too many beers and a big game.

“In the doctor’s words, it was a small stroke in a really bad spot. I was quite lucky, if it had been a bit bigger, there could have been some serious ramifications.”

The aftermath

Scott would watch what was supposed to be the final games of his NRL career from hospital.

He saw his wife and kids walk onto Townsville’s old Dairy Farmers Stadium in his place to recognise his tireless Cowboys’ service.

But as heartbreaking as that was, the most daunting phase was to come.

“The recovery, I think it’s something where with a stroke it never really leaves you,” Scott said.

“Even now I’m finding I’ve got to be careful in what I do and look after myself, but the first six months certainly I was really struggling.

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“I had to learn to walk again because I couldn’t walk in a straight line, I had to learn how to balance … and that was a couple of weeks after playing in the NRL.

“I love the physical aspect of rugby league, and training hard and pushing my body, and I guess I just can’t do that any more.

“I’ll try and push the envelope every now and then, and my body just doesn’t cope with that. It’s been an adjustment knowing what my new limits are, and ... I was never good at understanding my limits to start with.”

Conquering retirement: An ongoing battle

The challenges of retirement in sport are well documented, but according to Scott not truly appreciated.

As he puts it: “When you’re in the system, you don’t realise that life’s pretty good.”

The 38-year-old has maintained a busy life after football, founding Scott Brothers Construction while working part-time at the Cowboys as a leadership mentor.

But he admits even five years on from when he took his final hit up, he still battles being away from the regimented reality he lived in as a player.

Already Scott would be forced to comprehend how to overcome the physical injuries he had suffered throughout his time on the field – his shoulder pain following a broken leg, ruptured anterior cruciate ligament and neck surgery.

His stroke was the “scary” curveball on top of it all.

“We had our third child in December that same year ... I had my shoulder reconstruction, as well as trying to recover from a stroke and starting a business,” Scott said.

“Retiring from rugby league is hard enough, and it’s something not appreciated by anyone who doesn’t play the game. You get a weekly schedule, told what to eat and wear and where to be, and life is very structured.

“Just having that structure and being able to stick to that structure is still quite an adjustment.

“That’s something I’m always working on, and talking to other recently retired players that seems to be a big issue.

“It [life after football] was a big adjustment, and something that I’m still getting used to.”

Making a difference

A stumbling block in Scott’s diagnosis was awareness. Had he not been carted from his return flight to hospital, he may not be here to tell his tale.

The now 38-year-old is speaking of his experience in the hope of making others appreciate strokes were not “an old man problem”. It did not discriminate, even among those at their physical peak.

According to the Stroke Foundation, almost half of Australian men are unable to name any of the key signs of a stroke, with the 2023 National Stroke Audit highlighting the median time from onset to emergency department arrival was four hours and 24 minutes.

The Heart Research Institute also states a person is hospitalised every nine minutes due to a heart attack, with men affected at twice the rate of women.

Such figures have led to the Stroke Foundation’s ‘Bloke Beside You’ campaign to plead for more males to speak out about their health issues.

It is an area Scott admits he struggles with.

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Coming through the NRL pathways, where an athlete’s physical prowess was paramount, he believed vocalising his issues came with a layer of insecurity.

But that, he said, is why he was sharing his story, in a desperate bid to eradicate stigmas that are costing up to 57,000 Australian lives each year.

“I think we’re getting better as a society and men asking for help, but … for me, it was always about not showing weakness and playing through pain,” Scott said.

“It was trying and push your body as far as it could go, and not make it about yourself. As a fit and healthy male, we don’t like to admit weakness, we don’t like to talk about our problems.

“I don’t like talking about it [my stroke] because it’s embarrassing. Bloke Beside You is trying to get men to talk to each other a bit more.

“The quicker you recognise what’s happening, the better it is for your recovery.”