Leeds Rhinos star recalls concussion horrors and fears over career

2024 was a year many associated with Leeds Rhinos would be keen to consign to the history books: but few would have as miserable a recollection of the year just passed like Morgan Gannon.

The 21-year-old broke onto the scene at Headingley in 2021 and quickly established a reputation as one of Super League – and Leeds‘ – most promising and exciting prospects. It is hard to believe that he is still only 21, not least when you speak to the forward and quickly become accustomed with the maturity he displays.

And that maturity will have stood Gannon in good stead over the last year which he himself can only describe in one word: horrendous.

It is nearly a full year since Gannon last played a rugby league match of any sort: a pre-season friendly against Hull KR on February 4 last year. Gannon knew without hesitation the date of that game – it has stuck in his memory ever since.

While his formative years as a Super League player have been littered with marvellous displays – he already has 50 Leeds Rhinos appearances to his name – there have also been numerous concussion setbacks, the most recent of which came in that friendly against Rovers almost a year ago.

In May, Leeds announced that he had been stood down for the remainder of 2024 as he embarked on a lengthy and careful recovery to avoid any further incidents in the future. That wait is almost over: he has had January 26 circled on his calendar for some time, when Leeds take on Wigan in a pre-season friendly.

It may be just a friendly for so many of the players who take part that day but for Gannon, it is a day he feared may never materialise in the darkest stages of his year-long absence.

“For the first month or two last year, I didn’t really accept it or deal with it properly,” he admits to Love Rugby League.

“I just couldn’t get my head around it. It’s awful because you know you’re physically fit, sat there in the stands ready to get out on the field, there’s no actual injury to your body holding you back. If you’ve got a knee brace on, you can almost make peace with it.

“But last year was just horrendous. Ever since it was confirmed I’d miss the rest of 2024 my goal was for it never to be a full year of missing games. So that friendly against Wigan comes just before that. It’s my goal, and I’m on track for it.”

Gannon was missing on Boxing Day, but not due to any concerns over concussion: he had a slight Achilles tear that is now fully healed.

The 21-year-old is clearly a wise head on youthful shoulders: especially given his approach to what would have been an awful 2024 campaign.

“Being stood down was awful,” he admits. After a couple of months I came to terms with it and started to worry about what I could do, rather than what I couldn’t do, to get me ready for 2025.

“That has been my mindset and my approach and I’ve taken a lot from it. I’m in such a good place. I’m really physically strong, probably better than I’ve ever been, because I’ve just rehabbed and worked on my fitness.

In rugby you never get six months to work on your body without full contact. So to be training for that long has helped me put some size on, lift in the gym with quality and just be really aerobically strong. I’ve worked on myself physically.”

And that certainly appears to have paid off – with Gannon involved with full-contact training from the very first session of pre-season this year. There has been no phased return to sessions: he has, in his own words, ‘ripped in’.

But is there a fear over what another head knock may lead to?

“You can’t really spend time worrying about that, and about concussions,” he insists. “If I’m worrying and second-guessing going into contact and tackles then that’s going to make things worse for me, if that makes sense.

“That’s not going to benefit me at all. I’ve put it behind me, I’ve done the work I needed to do in 2024 and I’ve got some confidence from that. I’m over it, I’m not worrying about it. I’ve come through every week of training so far, I’m ripping in as normal and I feel great. There’s nothing in the back of my mind.

“I’m feeling really confident about everything. I’m not worried about head knocks or anything like that, I’ve had to move on from that, I can’t allow myself to constantly think about it. I’m just looking forward to getting into the season.”

Gannon credits Leeds’ medical staff and his team-mates for helping guide him through his darkest periods. Everyone would hope there is never a repeat of such a spell on the sidelines for a player still with immeasurable potential.

He represents a new signing of sorts for Brad Arthur, who has spoken effusively about Gannon already. The forward admits it is a one step at a time process, and there is no need to get carried away.

But you can be sure he is counting down the days to January 26. The end is almost in sight.