Former Māori All Black Shane Christie died with 'high stage' brain disease

Māori All Black and Highlander Shane Christie has been diagnosed with a brain disease likely to be connected with repeated head knocks by a pathologist at the University of Auckland's brain bank.

By Samantha Gee and Anna Sergent for rnz.co.nz

Dr Clinton Turner found the former Tasman Mako captain had "high stage" chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) before his death by suspected suicide at the age of 39 in August 2025.

A report by a second pathologist Dr Michael Myskow noted Christie suffered several significant concussions during the course of his playing career.

RNZ is able to report on the pathologists' opinions with the discharge of an interim non-publication order.

Christie's former teammate and close friend Billy Guyton, who died by suspected suicide in 2023, was the first New Zealand-based professional rugby player to be diagnosed with CTE.

Christie retired from professional rugby in 2017 because of severe post-concussion symptoms.

He had spoken publicly about his belief he was suffering from CTE, which is linked to repeated head trauma, and can only be definitively diagnosed after death by examining brain tissue.

Myskow said Christie's brain was donated to the University of Auckland's brain bank, as per his wishes, and examined by Turner, an Auckland Hospital pathologist.

"Note is made of the fact that [Shane] was a professional rugby player who had suffered several significant concussions during the course of his playing career," he said.

"In summary Dr Turner confirms the diagnosis of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) which he characterises as 'high stage'."

New Zealand Rugby interim chief executive Steve Lancaster said support for players with post-concussive symptoms was a priority.

"Our thoughts are with Shane Christie's whānau, friends and former teammates for their ongoing grief following his passing, especially during difficult times like this," he said.

"New Zealand Rugby acknowledges the CTE pathology results for Shane Christie confirmed by The Neurological Foundation Human Brain Bank. We also acknowledge and respect the role of the coroner to determine the nature of any inquiry they may hold examining the cause and circumstances of Shane's passing.

"We share the concerns about the potential long-term effects of repeated head knocks in rugby and support the need for ongoing research into this.

"NZR recognises an association between repeated head impacts and CTE and takes this issue seriously.

"We are working with researchers to strengthen the understanding of CTE, recognising that further research to look at the brains of individuals who have not played contact sports is needed, before a definitive link can be established.

"While research into the long-term impacts of head injury is ongoing, our focus remains on the support we provide to our rugby community now.

"We take a precautionary approach focused on reducing injury risk at all levels of the game. Education, sanctions and, initiatives like Head Injury Assessments, flashing mouth guards, mandatory recovery periods, and brain health services for players reflect a growing commitment to safety across all levels of the game.

"Support for players who do experience post-concussive symptoms, mental health issues, or cognitive difficulties is a priority, regardless of any pathology that may or may not be identified later.

"With community rugby registrations now open, we know many parents will be giving some thought to their children's safety. Community rugby is very different from the professional game, with an emphasis on fun, non-contact options, and a gradual, age-appropriate introduction to contact. This means the risk of concussion is significantly lower with the average rate of one concussion per 700 games for under-12s.

"We appreciate the public interest in this matter. Due to the circumstances surrounding Shane's death, this matter was referred to the coroner, and as confidentiality obligations apply, we will not be commenting further during this process."

After Guyton's death, Christie co-founded the Billy Guyton Foundation to try to prevent and raise awareness about brain injuries in rugby, while calling for increased duty of care in the sport.

Christie posted several stories on social media documenting his battles with concussion and fears that he was suffering from CTE.

In March 2024 Christie said he believed he was suffering from the same neurodegenerative brain condition that was diagnosed in Guyton's post-mortem.

Christie said his own well-being plummeted following Guyton's death.

"My concussion symptoms had significantly worsened since learning of Billy's tragic death on May 13, 2023," he wrote.

"Over the months of May to September 2023, I gradually exhausted my brain's energy and cognitive capacity, pushing myself to a point where I became delusional and paranoid.

"During a critical 12-day period in early to mid-September, I experienced four manic, psychotic events. These events not only exacerbated my symptoms but also became increasingly radical and difficult to comprehend."

After years of struggling with fatigue, anxiety and suicidal thoughts post-retirement, Christie came to the following conclusion: "As I now understand the effects that concussion had on Billy's brain and witnessing the drastic changes in his life, I can only assume that I've developed CTE myself."

In April 2024 Christie said he was trying to show "New Zealand Rugby, Players Association, ACC how players are having issues for multiple years about having concussion problems".

"When you go to a specialist and you've had ongoing concussion problems, we're not getting treated with CTE diagnosis or probable," he said.

"And it means the treatment is non existent, instead of getting daily plans of how to recover or things that we need to do to monitor our health, reducing cognitive overload or stress, things like that, that can be practically implemented into our lifestyles, we just get told there's nothing you can do about it."

Christie's former partner and friend Holly Parkes said the pathologist's diagnosis did not come as a surprise.

"He would be like, 'I told you, you should have listened to me. I was trying to tell you'," she said.

Parkes, who first met Christie in 2010 and later spent time as his carer, said she knew he had CTE in 2023.

If Christie had not chosen to donate his brain to the University of Auckland's Sports Human Brain Bank, they would not have received the confirmation that he was suffering from CTE, not just poor mental health, Parkes said.

"The public thought that Shane had just sort of lost his mind but now to know that something was physically, biologically wrong with his brain, not psychologically wrong with his brain, it does vindicate his last years where he became a completely different person and everybody was very confused by his behaviour," she said.

Parkes said research had already established a link between repeated head trauma and CTE.

"New Zealand Rugby and the Players Association want to keep their head in the sand and not admit that this is really a problem, they don't want to implement the research," she said.

"The current pathway... led Bill and Shane to the grave, essentially, because it's a series of specialists and doctors who basically tell the boys that it's mental health issues," she said.

"To be told that there's nothing wrong with you, but there's something very, very wrong with you, it's a painful experience to go through as a human."

Parkes said Christie began experiencing concussion symptoms after the Māori All Blacks played the Harlequins in London in 2016, which was the last game of rugby he ever played.

"His full-time job became dealing with his concussion symptoms for those nine years and desperately looking for help and being misunderstood every year about his brain injury," she said.

Before his death, Parkes said Christie was desperately searching for treatment and support, not only for himself but for other players in the same situation.

"I watched a man lose parts of his personality, I saw him slip into psychosis, I saw him having paranoid, psychotic episodes, not able to remember even a lot of our relationship," she said.

"Before he died he was speaking to the Concussion Legacy Foundation overseas, desperately looking for help, desperately trying to be an advocate for other people so that their concussion injuries didn't need to turn into CTE the way it did [for him]."

"He was really standing up and yelling and shouting, something very bad happened to Billy, my best friend, and now it's happening to me. Can we please change? Can we please listen? Can we please implement the research?"

Since Christie's death, Parkes has continued his work, advocating for better access to support and treatment for people dealing with the effects of head injuries sustained in contact sport.

She had started KnockStop, to provide early intervention, clear guidance and a pathway to proper care for the crucial 24 to 72-hour period after concussion.

The aim was for concussion kits to be available in pharmacies around the country, with instructions on how to manage a concussion, supplements to minimise post-concussion symptoms and links to different clinics that could treat brain injuries.

Parkes was also raising money for people to access treatment so they did not have to go overseas.

Nelson-based lawyer Craig Morice first got to know Christie in 2017 when he worked with him during negotiations with New Zealand Rugby and the New Zealand Rugby Players Association at the end of his career.

Morice said the CTE diagnosis provided a lot of answers.

"It confirmed what I'd always thought was going on in Shane's head, but [the report] was hard to read and hard to take in," he said.

"He's right, he wasn't crazy, he had a brain disease."

Morice said Christie had complained to New Zealand Rugby about how his debilitating concussion injuries had been managed during his career and pushed for his treatment to be investigated.

A 2019 report by judge Jeremy Doogue made five recommendations, saying New Zealand Rugby needed to address a culture of under-reporting concussions and downplaying concussive events, standardise a concussion rehabilitation plan, establish a protocol for escalating serious cases and closely monitor scientific developments around the link between concussion and long-term degenerative conditions.

Morice said Christie had been motivated by a desire to make rugby safer current and former players and children but he felt increasingly shut out of conversations with the governing body.

"If there are recommendations made to make the game safer for everyone, why would New Zealand Rugby for years and years continue to not agree to release those?" he said.

"Shane loved rugby. He didn't want to destroy it. He felt there needed to be a discussion about making it safer in respect of concussion and repeated concussive knocks."

Morice is a former Tasman Rugby Union director, an age-grade rugby referee, and an advocate for player welfare.

"I've got two young boys who play rugby and my 15-year-old had his first concussion two years ago and Shane helped us through that," he said.

He had heard from former All Blacks and other Super Rugby players in recent months, asking about the results of Christie's brain scan and when the findings would be made public.

"Those players are battling their own demons, as they call them, and similar symptoms to Shane but there's no cast or bandage and people can't see what they're battling with," he said.

Christie played 29 matches for the Highlanders between 2014-2016 and was part of their Super Rugby-winning side of 2015, although he spent most of that campaign sidelined with injury.

He also played 73 times for Tasman over seven seasons before retiring because of concussion-related symptoms. He skippered Tasman to the team's first NPC title in 2013.

The coroner's inquiry into Christie's death is ongoing.