{"id":429226,"date":"2026-05-15T16:44:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T16:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/429226\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T16:44:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T16:44:10","slug":"new-zealand-rugby-league-player-dead-at-30-after-season-opener-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/429226\/","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand rugby league player dead at 30 after season opener injury"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!\n  <\/p>\n<p class=\"speakable\">A New Zealand <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/sports\/rugby\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">rugby<\/a> player died Tuesday after suffering &#8220;unsurvivable&#8221; injuries during his team\u2019s season opener, the club confirmed. He was 30.<\/p>\n<p class=\"speakable\">Glenora Rugby League Football Club Chairwoman Janet Hunt confirmed the death of Eugene Hanna in a post on Facebook. According to Hunt\u2019s statement, Hanna was gravely injured during a game against the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/world\/world-regions\/new-zealand\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Te Atatu Roosters.<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/rugby-players-scrum-fox-news-001.jpeg\" alt=\"Rugby players pushing in a scrum during a match\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>While no other details surrounding the circumstances of Hanna\u2019s death were immediately known, the New Zealand Rugby League did issue a statement Thursday warning of the dangers of head injuries and the importance of concussion protocol. (Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It is with a heavy heart that we inform our members of the passing of Eugene Hanna on Tuesday. Eugene was a valued player in our Premier Reserves squad and although a new Bears member had good friends within the club,&#8221; Hunt\u2019s statement began.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/sports\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Eugene sustained an injury in the team&#8217;s first game of the season against Te Atatu which was tragically unsurvivable. Glenora Bears would like to extend its gratitude to the Te Atatu Roosters members who helped at the scene, the attending paramedics and Auckland Hospital for their care these last two weeks.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Roosters also released a statement extending condolences to the club.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/sports\/josaia-raisuqe-rugby-star-who-won-silver-paris-olympics-fiji-dead-after-tragic-accident\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">JOSAIA RAISUQE, RUGBY STAR WHO WON SILVER AT PARIS OLYMPICS WITH FIJI, DEAD AFTER ACCIDENT INVOLVING TRAIN<\/a><\/p>\n<p>While no other details surrounding the circumstances of Hanna\u2019s death were immediately known, the New Zealand Rugby League did issue a statement Thursday warning of the dangers of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/sports\/injuries\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">head injuries<\/a> and the importance of concussion protocols.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;NRZL places the utmost importance on player safety and welfare and work hard to prevent such tragic outcomes. We have rigorous <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/health\/nervous-system-health\/head-injury\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">head injury<\/a> and concussion protocols in place and work with our rugby league community to ensure appropriate resources and education are provided year-round.<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/rugby-player-kick-field-fox-news-001.jpeg\" alt=\"Unrecognizable rugby player preparing to kick ball on field during daytime\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>According to Glenora Rugby League Football Club Chairwoman Janet Hunt, Hanna was gravely injured during a game against the Te Atatu Roosters. (Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We urge anyone who sustains a head injury or experiences any symptoms to follow the guidelines in place, seek the appropriate medical advice and treatment, and only return to play when advised and appropriate.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/foxnews.onelink.me\/xLDS?pid=AppArticleLink&amp;af_dp=foxnewsaf%3A%2F%2F&amp;af_web_dp=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fapps-products\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0Several clubs issued statements showing an outpouring of support following Hanna\u2019s death, including the Renegades FC of the New Zealand Christian Football League, where Hanna previously played.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Follow Fox News Digital\u2019s<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FoxNewsSports_\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"> sports coverage on X<\/a>, and subscribe to<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/newsletters\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\"> the Fox News <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/newsletters\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Sports Huddle<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/newsletters\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\"> newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>   <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! A New Zealand rugby player died Tuesday after suffering &#8220;unsurvivable&#8221;&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":429227,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[55221,104,111,43,139,69,6327,213],"class_list":["post-429226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-head-injury","tag-injuries","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=429226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/429227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=429226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=429226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=429226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}