Former rugby league hard man Mark Carroll says the NRL must pay the medical bills of past players concerned about the lingering effects of concussions.
The NRL is grappling with how to best deal with the issue on the field in the future, after an independent doctor was given the overarching power to pull players from the field and rule them out of State of Origin matches this year.
The league is considering a similar policy for this year's NRL finals.
But Carroll, who played 185 first-grade games and represented New South Wales and Australia between 1987 and 1999, said he was most worried about former players.
The NRL is considering having an independent doctor sideline with the power to pull players during NRL playoff matches. Photo: Photosport
"Any rugby league guy that has got concerns out there, if you want to go and get tested, go and get the tests on the brain, get some clearance and clarity for yourself," Carroll told Fox Sports.
"But the league must pick up the bill."
Carroll admitted to regularly being physically ill after he suffered head knocks but never missed a game for Manly, South Sydney or Penrith due to concussion.
"I've had a couple of times where I would get home and I was violently ill, and you would just back up the next week," he said.
"There was no questions, you just do it.
"I found myself concussions still stay in your body, it only takes a jab, accidentally, in training and my body will go into shut down mode."
Meanwhile, Parramatta hooker Isaac De Gois has become the latest player to have his career ended by a head knock.
The 32-year-old suffered a concussion in a pre-season fixture and the Eels have effectively stopped him from playing on.
His contract -- which expires next season -- will be paid out in full by the Eels.
It comes in the same year former Newcastle winger James McManus launched legal action over the club's handling of concussions late in his career.
Three clubs -- St George Illawarra, Gold Coast and Newcastle -- were fined a combined $150,000 by the NRL for breaches of the league's concussion protocol this season.
