TANIELA Tuiaki still limps.

Why? He has no idea.

Five years have passed since an innocuous tackle shattered not only his ankle, but all hope of becoming the great NRL winger of an era.

Some weeks he shuffles around construction sites. Others, labouring as a concreter.

“But if I’m standing too long one day, yeah, the next I can’t stand at all,’’ Tuiaki said. “My ankle, it’s too sore to even move. And who wants to employ someone like that?”

media_camera Taniela Tuiaki goes off injured in round 24 of the 2009 season during a game against the Eels.

Only five weeks after revealing the heartbreaking story of Simon Dwyer, the Tigers forward left disabled by rugby league, The Sunday Telegraph can now bring you the trials of another victim who has also been left broken and forgotten.

Once the most devastating winger on the planet, Tuiaki now floats between jobs, struggles to pay bills and wondering when the Tigers might provide that fundraising ­dinner offered three winters ago?

“I’m not a guy with many options,’’ the 32-year-old conceded. “With no university degree, I work on and off — labouring, concreting, factory stuff. But, with my ankle, I’m almost unemployable. It’s frustrating and there are times when you feel absolutely helpless.”

This is not the same man who played Parramatta in round 24, 2009. No, back then, helplessness was felt only by those trying to stop him. A force dubbed ‘Tank’, he was leading the NRL in tries and linebreaks. And then ... snap.

media_camera Taniela Tuiaki goes down injured during round 24 of the 2009 season.

Hit in a tackle no different to thousands occurring each weekend, Tuiaki suffered a devastating ankle injury which, at first, had Tigers staff joking their biggest concern would be his weight, and how they kept it down while he was sidelined.

After three operations, plus another 18 months in rehabilitation, he was forced to retire.

“So I went to my manager, asked what was available,” Tuiaki said. “He replied, ‘Nothing’. It’s ridiculous. We give everything to rugby league, but, if you’re injured, nobody wants to know you.”

Which has us wondering how long before someone acts?

While Alex McKinnon has been promised a “job for life” by the NRL, others like Tuiaki and Dwyer are the forgotten victims.

As it stands, NRL players are not completely insured if disabled in action. An incredible scenario when you consider all 175 Aussies involved in Super 15 rugby have, since 2007, been covered for not only death and permanent disability, but career-ending injury.

media_camera Taniela Tuiaki with former teammates, Ryan O'Hara, Robbie Farah, Chris Lawrence and Stuart Flanagan promote a club sponsor.

If a Wallaby suffers the same spinal injury as McKinnon, he is guaranteed $1.5 million. Tuiaki would also have received a payout had he been with, say, the NSW Waratahs.

“Instead, Wests Tigers offered me a job as a delivery driver,’’ he said. “It was right after I’d retired. I still had the shits. So I knocked them back, disappeared to New Zealand for a while. I just hope no one else goes through this.”

The Sunday Telegraph can reveal the Super 15 insurance model will be presented next Tuesday when NRL officials meet with the Rugby League Players’ Association to ­discuss a national insurance scheme.

But what of those players already disabled?

media_camera Simon Dwyer watches on during City's captains run at Caltex Oval in Dubbo.

While Dwyer, who remains in a sling three years after ripping nerves from his spinal column, is currently employed by Wests Tigers, the club still won’t guarantee him a gig beyond this season. They are hosting a fundraising dinner after his plight was revealed on these pages.

It is a situation that, truly, should strike fear into every NRL star. After all, if both Tuiaki and Dwyer played in the same team, how many more are out there?

“I rang Simon earlier this year for advice,’’ Tuiaki says. “Hoping he might have answers. But when I asked what avenues he’d taken, what options might be open for me, he said there was nothing. Said there’s no help for guys like us.”

PANTHERS SHOW THE WAY WITH TEEN

MITCH Dening should be the blueprint for how rugby league treats fallen stars.

A young forward with the Penrith Panthers, 19-year-old Dening broke his neck in March while playing for Windsor.

media_camera Mitch Denning broke his neck while playing for Windsor.

While still able to walk, Dening’s injuries mean he won’t play again. Yet the teen revealed he will be returning to Penrith tomorrow after Phil Gould offered not only access to all rehabilitation staff and facilities, but free accommodation for as long as his recovery takes.

“They’ve also told me that, wherever my future lays, they’ll fund the education,’’ Dening said.

“I’m hoping to become a school teacher.”

Originally published as Hero Tuiaki left broken and forgotten