Concussion is a hot topic in the NRL at the moment with debate continuing to rage about how best to protect players from themselves.
With the spectre of litigation hanging over pretty much every contact sport in the world, the NRL has taken several steps in recent years to ensure player safety is increased.
But do the concussion protocols do enough to protect the players?
The introduction of an independent doctor in the NRL bunker to spot players that they think need to be thoroughly checked has been a step in the right direction but it has led to confusion among teams and fans.
And how long should players be stood down from training and playing if they have suffered a concussion?
The Roar experts have their say and if you’d like to do likewise, fire away in the comments section below.
Experts Roar – Finals format
Michael Hagan (premiership-winning player and coach)
I think the concussion protocols are OK. Maybe the NRL could look at having an independent trainer to assess players on field.
And the league should also look to increasing sanctions and advising fans of any clubs who breach the regulations at Graham Annesley’s weekly NRL media briefing.
Paul Suttor (Roar expert)
The NRL, and any professional sport on the planet, needs to listen to nobody else but the neurological experts.
As is always the case in rugby league, there will be agendas driven by players, coaches and administrators on this issue but it’s way too serious to be compromised because clubs don’t want their stars sitting out any longer than they think is necessary.
(Photo by Matt Roberts/Getty Images)
If the people who are qualified in this area believe the NRL needs to sit players out longer, then that should be the case.
At the least, anyone who suffers a concussion should be missing the next round regardless of whether it’s a five, six, seven or eight day turnaround.
Joe Frost (Roar expert)
On this week’s episode of Head Noise – James Graham’s podcast about concussion, which is compulsory listening for footy fans – neurologist Dr Rowena Mobbs spoke about an appropriate amount of time out after a concussion being probably four weeks.
I thought it was crazy. And then I looked up at the zero medical qualifications hanging on my wall, and reconsidered my response.
If the people who have spent years studying and treating head trauma say the NRL should reconsider its approach to concussion, then we should listen to them, not some banged-up ex-footy player who bemoans a lack of toughness or – worse – that doctors and lawyers are ruining the game.
Doctors are trying to protect the players, and lawyers see the money pit the NRL is staring down if such protection is not provided.
If the experts say players need longer to recover, then they need longer to recover. Oh, and we fans need to accept it, because longer time out for head trauma is all but inevitable as further research is conducted.
Mary Konstantopoulos (Ladies Who League)
This is an extremely challenging topic because I am not a doctor. The processes the NRL currently has in place seem appropriate. The only part that really concerns me is when a player is visibly wobbly or struggling after the tackle and remains on the field. Those players should be taken off immediately and assessed.
Danielle Smith (Roar expert)
I like the HIA, I like the independent doctor and I like players being made to miss a game if they pull up badly from a head knock. With all of the knowledge we have now, we need to do what we can to protect the players. In saying that, this is a contact sport, and while contact to the head is a ‘no-no’, contact to the head will inevitably happen. And the players know this when they make it their profession. I don’t think there is much more that can be done before it gets labeled as an overreaction.
(Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
Stuart Thomas (Roar expert)
If the Seven Spotlight documentary on Mario and Jeff Fenech didn’t scare the heck out of people traditionally dismissive of the seriousness of repeated head trauma in contact sports, nothing ever will.
Admittedly, that group has shrunk considerably in recent times, with most now appreciating the fact that rugby league cannot continue to farewell players in the full knowledge that many of them will have considerable physical and mental health challenges in the future.
The current protocols in play are of course, well intentioned. However, players are still remaining on the field when they should be removed and many are returning to competitive play well before they should be.
Feeling well a few days after a serious head knock does not mean that damage has been avoided and whilst measuring such damage is far from a perfect science, it is time the NRL took a firm stance and erred far more on the side of caution.
Passed HIAs allow players to directly re-enter the fray and should be scrapped. Any obvious physical signs of contact to the head should deem a player unfit for the remainder of the game and a 14-day rest period where more thorough testing and observation can take place needs to be implemented.
Any view that Mario’s problems are a result of the era in which he played and not as prevalent today is false. The bodies are bigger and faster in the modern game and thus, the impact of head trauma, potentially as serious as ever.
Mike Meehall Wood (Roar expert)
Concussion is a huge issue, and one that the league has to take the lead on.
Clubs will actively rort it, as evidenced by the constant real/fake HIAs to waste time, leaving players on when they’ve taken a head knock and players being able to play on short turnarounds.
I’m not a doctor so I don’t know the answer but what we have now is far too lenient and open to abuse.
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Dr. Adrian Cohen, Concussion Specialist
Roar Rookie
OK, so I AM a doctor and have specialised in concussion for over 3 decades. Several points need to be made out loud: 1. We need to stop pretending that the HIA is sacrosanct. It’s not neuroscience, not pathology, not based on gold standard diagnostic techniques. It’s made up. By the codes, for the codes. When Barry O'Driscoll resigned from WR (World Rugby) it was because he couldn’t live with the hypocrisy, Can we? 2. You can no more “pass” an HIA then you can pass having your IQ Test or having your blood pressure measured. 3. The 12 Day RTP (Return to Play protocol) is just like the five day RTP before it, convenient to get players back on the field. Created by sports, FOR sports. Dressed up as "International Consensus Statement". By the sports. And let’s not forget, when this whole concept was first brought in, it was three weeks. But that was “financially unsustainable” for “the product”. 4. The 12 day RTP is about as reliable as the 12 Apostles. Didn’t do Jesus much good when he was wounded. Took from Christmas till Easter to be right again: more like 3 months!! 5. May 2011 WR changed RTP. For clarity, it’s when Reg 10 was changed to the World Rugby Graduated Return to Play 6-stage protocol (which replaced the three week blanket stand down for concussion). The process meant a player failing a HIA ‘could’ come back in 6 days. Must have been some kick-ass science to reduce brain healing time by two thirds? Some wonderful evidence-based neurology? Some Nobel laureate breakthrough? What.........sorry ? The governing body’s committee? 6. Concussion creates concussion. The more you have the more you get, the more easily you get them, the longer the lasting effects, the longer the time to recover for each episode and the more likely and severe the ultimate consequences 7. "Add another trainer on the field". Pleez. Trainers (often UNPAID by the club to whom they are loyal) do a 2-3 day course. And you want them to decide about brain health? 8. Make rules, enforce them. Each time, every time. Not "every time except Origin and the Finals" 9. Make SIZEABLE penalties ($ and suspensions, not token gestures). Minimum 6 weeks. Minimum $100,000 (donated to Brain Research, not NRL HQ!!) 10. You can't rely on "symptoms" (which the player has to "honestly" report......we KNOW THEY DON'T!!!) If I had a dollar for each time a player said “nah, I’m fine doc” I would have breached the salary cap
Robbo
Roar Rookie
Well the article is about rugby union but I suppose we could say that it applies to league. It uses words like "seems" and "may". That's not evidence. I get your point though
McTavish
Roar Rookie
https://theconversation.com/wearing-protective-headgear-in-rugby-may-increase-the-risk-of-serious-injury-new-research-84887 https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/51/20/1473
Robbo
Roar Rookie
Interesting thought - doesn't mean that footballers across the board are all going to become more kamikaze because of the headgear - are cricketers more careless about getting hit with the ball when batting, just because they have a helmet on? Why would a velodrome cyclist bother then with their hatch? Nah not buying it, and again I say its untested. Why worry about them in junior comps then if they do nothing? No harm in the concept at all I reckon
Robbo
Roar Rookie
Dumb response - You can't possibly have any evidence of soft headgear doing nothing to reduce concussions at elite football level - there's only ever been a small minority that wears it - its untested. Mandatory headgear is a great idea
Womblat
Guest
Good god. We agree on something. Headgear is not the answer. Unfortunately I read your alternative and it's idiotic. "Punish all contact to the head"? How about ball runners, responsible for the vast majority of all concussions? Think harder, kid.
Dumbo
Roar Rookie
Matth: fully agree. If we adopt the WBA rules of guys who get concussed, then impose the same penalties on the guys who concuss them ie The concussed player is stood down for 30 days and the guy who hit him is stood down for 30 days. ( In the case of two players from the same side having a head clash, there is to be no standing down of the second player, unless he is also concussed. ) If one player hits an opposition player high, then the referee is to send him off whether the hit was accidental or intentional. Not sin-binned and placed on report, but sent off. At first sight you would think we would need more than 30 players in the squad, but if the changes were made at the start of the season, AND ENFORCED, coaches would force their players to change their tackling techniques before they ran out of squad members. Head-high tackles and CTE could be stamped out in a single season if the NRL had the cohones to implement these changes and ignore the squeals of outrage from coaches and radio/TV match callers, pundits and Roarers.
McTavish
Roar Rookie
Unfortunately head gear is not the answer or some magic bullet. Look up the phenomena known as risk compensation to see why it has little real world effect on head injuy rates or severity.
Homer Nixon
Guest
As I posted on a previous thread, head gear should be compulsory. Dumbest of all suggestions. Soft head gear does absolutely nothing to minimise concussion at elite level football. What it is excellent at doing it preventing cauliflower ears. Hard headgear (like helmets in the NFL) indisputably increase concussion events. The best thing for the code to do is simply punish - severely so - all contact to the head, and stand down anyone concussed for a month. Anyone who is concussed three times in a year, is forced to retire and can take a pension.
Homer Nixon
Guest
How on earth did you get that inference from what I posted??
Tim J
Roar Rookie
I have just submitted my second article Tony, ‘ Your the voice’ by the great one, John Farnham.
Cugel
Roar Rookie
So some catastrophic brain injury is OK, so long as you can't point a finger at someone for causing it?
Robbo
Roar Rookie
As I posted on a previous thread, head gear should be compulsory. Its likely that the response to concussion miving forward involves mandatory stand down for more weeks and harsher sanctions for the inflictor. It would good to see a more leniency for accidentals. So anything that helps lessen the effects of head knocks is important. Head gear compulsory - its a no brainer (pardon the pun)
Worlds Biggest
Guest
Agree with Stuart’s comments, the NRL seem to have the right intentions however the application seems miles off. We see players getting KO’d one week and then playing the next and that is absolutely wrong. In my view, any player that goes off for an HIA automatically sits out the following week as a minimum. If they need to sit out 2-3 weeks or longer pending the severity then that must happen. NRL Clubs are masters of exploiting all and any loophole. What exactly are the concussion protocols, is this enforced by the Club or NRL ? V’Landys was rightly slammed & ridiculed for the deferred Taylan May suspension so the fans don’t miss out. Is this draconian mindset mirrored in his concussion stance ? Player X is a superstar that attracts eyeballs to TV’s and bums on seats, we can’t have him out of the game for too long…. Rugby have a mandatory 3 week stand down period for concussion which is appropriate. The game is smart enough to realise that if these safety measures are not implemented to protect the players and game, litigation will hit them like a typhoon. There are already a few cases with former players sueing the game. On NRL 360 last week they were discussing concussion, when Anasta posed the question should they impose a mandatory stand down period, Paul Kent brazenly said “ No it just won’t happen “ I just shook my head and said to myself - you are kidding, why not ?? I love both codes and follow them closely, looking from the outside, it appears the stance and policy on concussions couldn’t be more stark.
Homer Nixon
Guest
Only the brainless wouldn't try to mitigate risk where possible though. And there are plenty of levers to pull that protect the head and protect the physicality of the head. Only the lazy and stupid think otherwise
Homer Nixon
Guest
Quite right, Matt
Poss
Roar Rookie
I was absolutely shocked & saddened to watch 7's Spotlight on Sunday, I was never a fan of Mario's on the field but grew to admire him after retirement, but never liked how he was portrayed on the Footy Show being the butt of everyone's jokes,I guess that's for them to now try & justify & live with ...But he also said he wouldn't of changed anything to do with his footy career & I'd heard James Graham saying something similar on NRL 360 awhile ago..But if they could look into the future I wonder if they would want the laws of the game changed?What surprised me on Spotlight that a Boxer being Geoff F. who got bashed around the head throughout his boxing career doesn't have a dementia as bad as Mario...
Tim J
Roar Rookie
Not the NRL Tony, as they do not think :laughing:
mushi
Roar Guru
Almost as predictable as the NRLs non response
Tim J
Roar Rookie
They get a reduced wage for not playing, but still get paid. Strip them off their wage completely while not playing would hit them hard, but the NRL will not do that.