For those of you who may have missed the story, eight former English and Welsh rugby union players, including several high profile internationals, are preparing to take legal action for negligence against World Rugby, the Rugby Football Union in England, and the Welsh Rugby Union.
Each of the litigants is under the age of 45, and all have been diagnosed with early onset dementia and probable CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy). They are claiming that the defendants did not protect them from the risks of concussion.
The lawyers who are running the test case believe that they have evidence to suggest that rugby “should have been aware of the long-term risks of dementia type injuries being caused by repetitive blows to the head”, according to The Times. There are further players who may join the action.
The litigants will be seeking financial compensation for the medical conditions they are suffering and lost earning capacity. They are also presenting the so-called “15 commandments”, a list of changes to reduce the future incidence of head trauma.
These include:
• Limiting contact training
• Limiting the use of tactical substitutions, such as when the substituted player is not injured
• Use of technology to continuously monitor a player’s baseline brain assessment
• Requiring players to have a licence to play, depending upon their brain assessments
Obviously, this case is yet to be played out, but if the test litigants are successful the floodgates will quickly open, resulting in further class actions and/or out-of-court claim settlements. Note, that when faced with a similar issue some years ago, the NFL in America paid compensation of around US$1 billion (A$1.34 billion).
The issues at stake here clearly don’t just relate to rugby, as all contact sports including rugby league, football and, yes, even cricket are in the frame.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
A number of league players have come forward in recent times citing their concussion related their health concerns, even prompting some to donate their brains to medical science, after their death of course, so that the effects of head trauma cane be measured.
It wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume that there are many more who are either currently maintaining their silence, or are as yet unaware of any medical issues.
In the season just gone, concussions and the HIA have been front of mind as many players have been required to leave the field after suffering concussion, and some have missed games for the following reason.
You don’t need to look any further than the injuries to Australia, New South Wales and Roosters captain Boyd Cordner to get a sense of how critical this issue is.
Boyd Cordner (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
So what can the league do about it? You can’t play the game we all love and not have a fairly high level of impact.
Head trauma can be caused just as easily from a correctly and legally executed tackle as it can from an errant shoulder charge.
Obviously, insurance would be part of the solution but insurers tend to walk away from claims when the insured exhibits negligence, so doing nothing and relying upon an insurance policy to clean up the mess isn’t an option.
There’s no doubt that Peter V’landys and his fellow sports administrators have their eye on this issue, and they need to come up with a solution sooner rather than later that limits both the injuries to the players, and any future damages claims.
(Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
I say future, because those injured players already in the system may yet have their day in court if the UK case is decided in favour of the litigants. It’s important to note here that damages claims don’t take into account the guilty party’s capacity to pay, or the resultant financial impact.
For example, if 100 players were each granted compensation of $5 million each, it just may be the end of the NRL as we know it.
Clearly, minimising risk and being proactive is the best course of action. Some of the things that the NRL could do include:
1. Reviewing and implementing some or all of the actions suggested in the 15 commandments.
2. Ensuring that players are given a HIA immediately the incident occurs. There are plenty of examples last season of players taking a hit to the head and either not leaving the field for an assessment at all, or leaving only after a suitable break in play.
3. Standing down injured players and, in the worst cases, not allowing them to play again.
No solution is perfect but doing nothing doesn’t look like being an option. There’s too much at stake.
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4uy3677giY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYYiqx6legw with todays professionalism are players even taught to catch, pass and tackle or is allof the training in the gym? atching games today their skills are worse than in the 80's
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
how many head high tackles slipped up off the ball or shoulder first? Trouble is when it's a swinging arm type tackle that initial contact with the shoulder before it hits the melon the forct is still pretty bloody high. Only way to try to reduce it is to make any tackle above the arm pit / nipple line illegal. How many ball runners duck as they approach a tackle to getunder thatarm contact, and how many more will do it if there would be a penalty for tackles above the armpit line! Whatever rule the governing body will come up with, the likes of Melbourne Storm will look for ways around it. Before a rule change is made they need to think of the possible changes / flow on effect first as it may then lead to more head high hits (look at the 2019 RWC re any hit to the head)
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
Boxers wear gloves so their hand's wont break which means they can punch each other more times in the head, so either go with thinner MMA type gloves / no gloves so the hands will fail sooner or make boxing like Kyokushin karate where punches to the head are not allowed. (but then there goes the spectator appeal) Fact is EVERY boxer is aware of the damage to the brain, especially if they go from amatuer ranks to professional where the aim changes from scoring points to inflicting damage.
GoGWS
Roar Guru
It’s all basic physics.. the helmet will actually do something to dissipate the force and increase the time of the impact. It’s not correct to say helmets do nothing – that’s far too simplistic and just untrue. The issue of brain injury is real and they will be (or should be) looking for effective way to deal with this… that is, to minimise the incidence of brain injury. Helmets should be part of the solution but I suspect it’ll be more changes in rules that’ll get to the core of the issue.
BeastieBoy
Roar Rookie
The Go Forward is what Peter Vlandys is doing. Reducing the stoppages and opening up the playing field with the 2 point Field Goal will speed it up, increase fatigue and reduce the gang tackles. There is too much ground to cover too quickly for 3 guys to commit to just one attacker.
BeastieBoy
Roar Rookie
GoGWS Helmets don't work.. see NFL. Padded Head Gear maybe. What do the Studies show? How thick must the padding be?
BeastieBoy
Roar Rookie
The Go Forward is what Peter Vlandys is doing. Reducing the stoppages and opening up the playing field with the 2 point Field Goal will speed it up, increase fatigue and reduce the gang tackles. There is too much ground to cover too quickly for 3 guys to commit to just one attacker.
GoGWS
Roar Guru
I’m not sure it’s correct to say that helmets do ‘nothing’... yes the brain rattles internally, but isn’t the idea that the helmet itself dissipates some off the force and you end up with less brain rattling... your son falls off his bike and his head hits the road - do you want him wearing a helmet or not? I want the helmet. I do think helmets do provide some protection but they can’t magically prevent all brain injury. This is a issue for contact sports and they’re going to have to improve their processes (and rules) to provide as much protection as possible, and also put in place some sort compensation scheme for players who’ll inevitably get injured... I don’t think it’s good enough that the mental health of a group of players continues to be viewed (by some) as acceptable collateral damage... this issue does affect other sports like Australian football where recent autopsies have shown the same issue (eg. Polly Farmer). I think we’re entering an era where sports will have to be held accountable, as they should be.
Hoy
Roar Guru
Wide running. Not so much traffic.
Tony
Roar Guru
Jacko, a great example of what you are talking about is Sam Burgess playing on in the grand final the year that Souths won the comp despite breaking his cheekbone in the first minutes of the game.
Tony
Roar Guru
Yes Jacko......I never expected to hear back from him. He'll pop up again sometime with a new name.
Pete we had a couple of send-offs in a Union test recently and a number of League commentators/ex players rubbished the decisions as a reflection of a soft sport rather than acknowledge any possible issues the head knocks may have created.....league is way to busy making a hero of the "Tough" man than they are in protecting the players heads...
Noosa the minute a court case goes in favor of the player it will make the news all around the world and many mums will quickly withdraw their kids from the sport. This leads to many side effects for the sport inc the strenth of the comp and the class of the players coming thru...This then has major effects on the amount of money a comp has to employ players.....Yep we all make choices when given info about the dangers but its also 100% the responsibility of the administritive body of the sport to make the sport safe. I watch a bit of league and i see head knocks probably 15-20 per match which are dangerous to the recipient....These are things Lawyers love...
He ran away barry...Couldnt back up his totally rubbish opinion...If the NRL or any other sport have Mikes attitude they will be gone after the first court case....
Pete
Guest
I mentioned this a couple of weeks ago in a earlier forum relating to the issues league will have with their new rules...not one person acknowledged the post to busy worring about field goals and the abysmal scrum messes to understand the extent of the rulings happening in rugby concerning head injuries.
Contact sports like union, league, NFL - they are tough , hard sports, and head injuries are a part of the game. Minimise foul play by harsher penalties, have the HIA system, - but you are either going to have contact sport or you are not . I feel for these men, but to try and pin "blame" on someone else for your decision to play contact sport just does not sit well with me. Just my opinion.
Noosa Duck
Roar Rookie
After reading so many comments I would just throw this into the mix. Are we by mollycoddling children and teenagers to-day taking away the element of self responsibility. Are we developing a society whereby if you do something dumb you can blame someone else. No I am not saying that we should not try to "minimise" risk in all facets of society including sports, however you can slip on the tiles at home and end up with severe concussion and possibly permanent brain damage. Rugby Boxing & Rugby league are all heavy contact sports and to-day we seriously emphasise the risk factors and it is your personal choice if you play the game and your choice if you want to play it at the top level beyond your teenage years.
Noosa Duck
Roar Rookie
Possibly but proving negligence will be a hard task especially if you were asked if you were OK. Many said yes when they knew they were not
Heyou
Roar Rookie
Not the considered response this rookie expected from a guru.
fiwiboy7042
Roar Rookie
Not what they do on the field. They just run into other people.