Stress and anxiety attacks made Meyer quit rugby
Stress and anxiety attacks over his injured knee made Steve Meyer quit rugby just before the start of the Super14, this came to light as his father Cliff lifted the veil of uncertainty that has surrounded this astonishing happening that shocked all and sundry.

His words to his father earlier in the week were “Dad I can’t do it”.

Honesty to admit that he was not up to it and not wanting to disappoint his team mates being one of his strongest attributes is what made him have a change of heart and miss out on a lifelong dream just 3 days before the start of the Super14 in Durban against the Waikato Chiefs.

His feeling was that instead of being a disappointment to his team as he felt at this time, he would rather quit his father said in an open hearted interview; his father also denied all speculation that his son had used any banned substances as was being speculated with absolute distain.

While in France he had torn medial ligaments in his right knee which had been successful but one of the screws used caused damage where after they used bone from his hip to repair the damage.

Although he came through the warm up matches in Cape Town with success he felt during training this week that all was not well with his knee, which caused major anxiety and stress for him, even though he had past his medical tests at the Sharks very successfully.
He came to me with very low self confidence and very stressful to tell me he was not up to it , I have to be honest with the Sharks he said,” I don’t want to be in a position not to give them my all in the match” it would not be fair to them.

You have to understand the huge pressure these young boys are under and he simply was not able to absorb that pressure, “in his frame of mind he felt he was not up to the task as well as his renewed knee problem” his father said.

After must soul searching he made this very difficult decision as he Steve is a perfectionist and it is not about the financial rewards that he could be making, his biggest concern was not being able to give his best for the team.

I can assure you it was not easy to walk in there and do what he had to, I am very proud of him Meyer said and also spoke of how understanding Brian van Zyl, Rudolph Straeuli and John Plumtree had been regarding Steve’s situation, and that Steve was to totally distance himself from rugby and go study.
Who knows maybe after a year he might decide to give rugby another try, but one can only wish him well on his journey forward.