Shaun Spence is determined to make a career out of rugby league despite being told at the age of 22 that he had to retire after repeated concussions.

Spence is the real face of the concussion debate after his career was taken away from him with genuine fears of serious brain trauma. The news was a bitter pill for Spence to swallow, admitting he "went to a pretty dark spot" as he failed to grip the fact his childhood dream was to be taken away.

"There was massive denial at first and I fought it for six months and kept going back for more doctors' test," Spence said. "There was definitely really dark times and I turned into not so good of a person. There were times when it was difficult to get up and motivated to do anything. It was frustrating. I blocked out all my friends."

Spence sought professional advice as he battled mentally.