Kevin Tamati has revealed he has been diagnosed with dementia, posting to the Rugby League Legends Facebook group as the rugby league community was still reeling from Jai Arrow’s public Motor Neurone Disease announcement just days earlier.
When Kevin Tamati posted that he was facing a new fight against dementia, it landed like a jolt in a community already carrying heavy news.
The Kiwi international enforcer, one of the toughest figures of New Zealand rugby league in the 1970s and 1980s, announced his diagnosis this week in a message to the Rugby League Legends Facebook group. “Sadly I have been burdened with dementia. Just hope it doesn’t get too bad,” Tamati wrote.
For fans watching from both New Zealand and the UK, the timing intensified the shock. His health announcement arrived just days after Jai Arrow revealed he had been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease.
Tamati’s post drew an immediate wave of well wishes. One follower wrote: “Gutted for you mate. I grew up in NZ watching you play. Now living in the UK and the rugby league community still talk about you. Good luck bro.” Another added: “You certainly played it tough KT with the Kiwi spirit and mana. we are all behind you brother.”.
There was also a message that leaned into what Tamati’s name has meant to others across generations: “I hope that you can enjoy the memories that you have, and while you can, recognise the mana that your name holds through many generations.”
Tamati’s announcement didn’t come out of nowhere, at least not in terms of what rugby league has already been facing in recent years. The Motor Neurone Disease disclosure by Arrow reignited wider discussion around MND in the sport after the deaths of former players including Carl Webb.
Arrow, known for his toughness and relentless playing style, said he is determined to face the battle head-on despite the devastating prognosis. The announcement also prompted emotional tributes from current and former players who rallied around Arrow and his family.
Tamati, too, became famous worldwide for the physical edge he brought to the game. He earned his reputation for a brutal mid-1980s on-field feud with Australian prop Greg Dowling during Test matches.
Born in Hawke’s Bay in 1953, Tamati began his senior career with the Petone Panthers before starring for clubs across Wellington. He represented Wellington 52 times and became a feared prop known for an aggressive, uncompromising style.
He played for the New Zealand Māori side and won 22 Test caps for the Kiwis between 1979 and 1985. In 1982, Tamati moved to England and built successful spells with Widnes, Warrington and Salford.
A highlight of his club career came when Widnes defeated Wigan in the 1984 Challenge Cup Final at Wembley Stadium. After retiring as a player, he went into coaching with Salford, Chorley Borough, Whitehaven and later the New Zealand Māori team.
Tamati was inducted into New Zealand Rugby League Legends of League in 1995, and was later named an Auckland Rugby League Immortal. In later years, he appeared on New Zealand television series The Restaurant That Makes Mistakes..
His dementia announcement now places yet another former hard-man at the centre of a sport confronting the long aftermath of battle, injury and aging—at a moment when the league community is already holding its breath around Arrow’s fight with MND.
Kevin Tamati dementia diagnosis rugby league Jai Arrow Motor Neurone Disease MND Greg Dowling Kiwis Widnes Wembley 1984 Challenge Cup Final