Former Wallaby Nathan Charles has revealed he has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease at 37, sharing the news in a Stan Sport interview after already defying cystic fibrosis to play Test rugby.
Charles, who played four Tests for Australia in 2014, publicly confirmed the diagnosis in an interview with former Wallaby Justin Harrison on ABC News and major outlets including the Sydney Morning Herald and Nine. The story is based on Charles’s own on-record comments — not third-party medical speculation.
What Charles said
Charles told Stan Sport he had been dealing with unexplained health challenges for about eight months. “For a long period there I just didn’t know what it was,” he said. “I’ve had that many tests, seen that many doctors and it just wasn’t getting any outcome. But my health just kept declining.”
“And then recently, in the last few weeks, I was actually diagnosed with motor neurone disease, which has been extremely challenging and overwhelming. And, yeah, just at times quite cruel.”
According to the SMH, Charles was diagnosed on 13 September. His first thoughts were for his fiancée Steph Bailey and his family. “I felt as though this would impact them greater than it would me,” he said. “I had a bad feeling going into that appointment and my fears were realised. It was the people around me that I felt worse for.”
“My first question was, ‘How long have I got?’” Charles said. He added that every person with MND has a different journey, that there is no cure, and that the disease affects people differently — wording that should not be read as a personal prognosis.
Already living with the impact
“I’m already greatly impacted by it,” Charles told Stan Sport. “I’m getting around with mobility aids. I struggle to do a lot of daily tasks, and putting on shoes and socks and stuff like that is a bit of a challenge. So it’s already impacted me, and I’m going to have my ups and downs.”
He told the Herald there is, as far as he knows, no connection between cystic fibrosis and MND: “it’s just absolute rotten luck.”
From cystic fibrosis to the Wallabies
Diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at three months of age, Charles went on to play Super Rugby for the Western Force and Melbourne Rebels and is widely reported as the only person with the condition to have played professional contact sport. Then Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie said ahead of his 2014 debut that Charles had “defied science and defied logic,” as reported at the time by the SMH and recalled by ABC and Nine this week.
Charles retired from professional rugby in 2018. He has long been an ambassador for cystic fibrosis causes and told Stan Sport he wants to use his profile to support the MND community as well. Friends have set up a GoFundMe to help with care costs, and Charles has spoken about plans for a Nathan Charles Foundation — details of those projects should be checked against his own updates before fundraising claims are expanded.
Wider MND context in Australian sport
MND has been a major Australian sporting story in 2026, including the public battle of Queensland Origin and South Sydney forward Jai Arrow — covered by TSB in the reported grand final tribute plans and on Dally M night. This article does not add medical detail beyond what Charles and major outlets have put on the record.
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