"It is heartbreaking. It is terribly, terribly sad," said Steel's wife, Raewyn. The stories are a continuation of the New Zealand Herald investigation into the links between concussion suffered in rugby and dementia.
On Monday we highlighted the plight of the 1964 Taranaki Ranfurly Shield team, where five players have either died with or are suffering from dementia conditions.
Nathan and his wife Janis read the story in the library of the East Auckland retirement village they moved into last year. It struck a chord.
"I played with [Neil] Wolfey and Ross Brown. Wonderful little players. Wonderful men," he says.
New Zealand Rugby CEO Steve Tew on Wednesday acknowledged the issue, saying the national body's obligation was to protect the current generation of players.
"It is a complicated issue and even the highly skilled and trained medical professionals cannot give you a definitive answer on a whole load of really important questions," Tew said.
"Right now, our responsibility is the current game and making sure we do the right thing for the players who are playing now."
The ACC has had a sharp rise in claims for rugby concussions - from 1480 in 2010 to 2413 last year - and is bracing itself for its first dementia claim.
"It is quite likely that with the growing suite of international medical literature and greater understanding of causation, that we will in the future," said spokeswoman Stephanie Melville.
And in the United States, a momentous step was taken this week when the NFL's top health and safety officer acknowledged the link between football-related head trauma and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
Jeff Miller was asked during a roundtable discussion on concussion at the House of Representatives whether the link between neurodegenerative diseases, like CTE and dementia, and American football had been established.
"The answer to that question is certainly yes," Miller said.
