‘Seconds off death’: Retired NRL player sues former club over ‘outlandish training’

A former Manly Sea Eagles player has launched a legal claim against his former club over allegations of an “outlandish training regime” cutting his career short.

Lloyd Perrett began his NRL career at the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs back in 2014 before signing a lucrative deal worth $500,000 a year with the Manly Sea Eagles in December 2016.

Just three years later, Perrett would play his final game at the NRL level, succumbing to “permanent injuries” that harboured his performance at the top level.

Now, Perrett has launched a legal claim against his former club over the incident that led to these sustained injuries which culminated in his career being cut short.

Brisbane-based law firm Carter Capner Law, which is representing Perrett, have claimed that a “gruelling” 2017 pre-season training session caused the frontrower to collapse midway through a conditioning block and have a seizure.

Perrett woke up at the Mona Vale Hospital – where he remained for three days – with a diagnosis of severe heat stroke.

According to the statement of claim filed to the Supreme Court, Perrett, along with 30 of his teammates, warmed up for 20-minutes before embarking on a 2-kilometre time trial, which Perrett completed in eight minutes and 23 seconds.

Just two minutes later, Perrett was running another 2-kilometre time trial, this time finishing it in 10 minutes and 30 seconds.

Perrett was once again allegedly directed to complete a third 2-kilometre time trial, but this time after completing one lap, he collapsed unconscious to the ground.

The legal claim alleges that on 6 November 2017, the weather was “very warm” and the players were deprived of water, with Dan Ferris, club performance coach, proclaiming at the time there would be no water breaks during the conditioning block.

“During the third time trial Lloyd collapsed and his next memory was waking up in Mona Vale Hospital with a diagnosis of severe heat stroke,” said Carter Capner Law director Peter Carter.

Perrett and his representatives allege that the Manly Sea Eagles failed to uphold their duty of care, failed to provide a safe system of work, failed to prevent exposure to unnecessary risk of injury, deprived Perrett of water and other fluids, and placed him in a “position of peril”.

Perrett and Carter Capner Law are seeking injury compensation mainly for the loss of income Perrett could reasonably expect to have received during his career.

The legal claim did not include the specific sought compensation, but Carter expressed that it could be “in the millions”, claiming the Sea Eagles breach of contract caused Perrett to suffer injury, loss, and damages.

“Given he was a very successful player at such an early stage of his career with arguably many good years ahead of him, the potential damages are well into the millions of dollars.”

In 2019, after the incident occurred, Perrett was featured in an interview still available on the Manly Sea Eagles website, claiming that when he woke up the doctors told him he “was lucky to be alive”.

“I was seconds off death. I was in a coma for a day or so.”

Perrett mentioned at the time that he still hoped to continue with his NRL career, as he was just 23.

“This is my sixth season in the NRL and people forget that I am only 23. They probably think I am a 30-year-old bloke coming off the bench trying his best.

“I have to make the most of this second opportunity I’ve been given. I have to work hard, train hard, play hard, and then the rest will come. I know it will.”

As it stands, Carter is collecting evidence on what Perrett’s potential earnings could have been had his career continued.

As previously reported by HR Leader, back in mid-2024 former Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs player Jackson Topine commenced similar legal action, alleging that he suffered “psychiatric injury” and “physical and mental impairment” as a result being forced to wrestle 30–35 of his teammates as a punishment for being late.

Topine’s legal claim alleged that the consequences for his lack of punctuality constituted “unlawful corporal punishment”.

At the time, Wests Tigers and NSW Blues legend Benny Elias made a similar duty of care claim to that mentioned in Perrett’s case.

“We are in an environment where there’s an employer and an employee who is the player, and we have a duty of care to make sure these players (are OK). Whether you like it or not, that is the fact, there’s a very fine line, and we don’t know, that’s why we are going to court,” Elias said.

“Mentally and physically, he believes he’s been doomed to (not) play ever again ... you can do it the hard way and the right way at the same time. You don’t have to be a genius; unfortunately, in the good old days, we’d turn a blind eye and life goes on. I agree with penalising someone if they’ve done something wrong, but to the effect of breaking this kid, that’s a real problem.”