
Ex-Super League man Quentin Laulu-Togaga’e has recalled the heart attack he had in late 2023 that ultimately forced him to retire from rugby league.
Laulu-Togaga’e, who represented Castleford Tigers in Super League, was a Sheffield Eagles player at the time but was training away from the club with several teammates when he started to have a heart attack – something he did not realise initially.
As a result, the full-back did not play throughout the 2024 season and announced his retirement earlier this year but he was slated to play one final match – his testimonial against ex-club Cas this past weekend. Unfortunately, that fixture was cancelled on account of the weather.
Laulu-Togaga’e, who made the move to England in 2011, spoke with BBC Radio Leeds in the build-up to his testimonial before its cancellation and recalled the day that his life changed forever.
He explained: “It was just any other day. We had three days off over Christmas and I went with the boys to the gym.
“We did a weights session and after that, we did a cardio session. It was just after the cardio that my chest started hurting. It just felt like a crushing feeling – something I’ve never experienced – but the whole time I just thought it was heartburn.
“Never in my life did I think that I’d be having a heart attack.”
‘Extremely lucky’ – Rugby League star recalls heart attack scare that forced retirement

Credit: Paul Currie/SWpix.com
The 40-year-old, whose son plays for Hull KR but is on loan at Oldham, revealed that it was not until he returned home to his wife that he finally took action.
He explained: “It gradually got worse but I went home and my wife knew that something was wrong. She begged me to go to the hospital but I said no and then it wasn’t until the pain went to my jaw and my right arm that I knew something was wrong.”
From that point onwards, Laulu-Togaga’e was passed around a number of hospitals before it was confirmed that he had been suffering a prolonged four hour heart attack.
He stated: “She had to drive me to Pontefract Hospital which is just down the road. They didn’t really know what was happening so they transferred me to Wakefield Hospital.
“I got there and they did all the testing and then the cardiologist told me ‘You need be rushed to Leeds Hospital for an emergency procedure. You’ve been having a heart attack for four hours and your right artery is blocked.’
“That was the realisation when I knew it was serious.
“Still to this day, I’m still doing tests to try and find out why it happened because they can’t really pinpoint why.”
Unable to play throughout the 2024 season, he made the decision earlier this year to call time on his playing career, but he was asked just how he feels about the incident that brought an end to his rugby league career.
“Extremely lucky,” the 40-year-old stated, adding: “They told me that another hour or so then my body would have shut down and they also felt that if I wasn’t as fit as I was at the time then my body wouldn’t have been able to take as much.
“I’m extremely lucky.”
It is hoped that there will be scope to reschedule his testimonial although it may be delayed a year, as former Castleford Tigers centre Jake Webster found when bad weather initially cancelled his fixture.
