The Roosters know more than most about the dangers of concussions. They have lost two club legends, Boyd Cordner and Jake Friend, to retirement after repeated head knocks in recent years, and had no qualms about letting them go.
Star half Luke Keary missed a huge swath of 2022 with concussion recovery problems, and when plenty would have rushed him back, Trent Robinson gave him time.
Now they are faced with the same dilemma for James Tedesco, who suffered his second concussion of the year and, amazingly, the ninth of his NRL career, in a heavy collision with Parramatta winger Maika Sivo on Friday night.
Tedesco was wobbly when he stood up and was taken off with a Category 2 head knock – which could have enabled him to come back on – before the Bunker upgraded it to a Category 1.
That comes with a mandatory standdown period, though clubs can ask to waive that if they feel there is sufficient evidence for it.
The Roosters have to win both of their remaining fixtures to make the Finals, with the Wests Tigers visiting Allianz Stadium next Saturday evening, but Robinson already confirmed that Tedesco will not play and that no exemption will be sought.
“He was concussed,” the coach told the post-match press conference.
“He was really good (after the match). About 20 minutes after the game he was better and remembers all the tries and everything about the day, which is really positive.
“But is it enough to play next week? I wouldn’t think so. It’s pretty critical for us, but you need to treat the guy as far as (putting) his health first.”
Robinson confirmed that Joey Manu, as usual, will deputise at fullback, though the Kiwi international only had thoughts for his stricken teammate.
“It’s tough,” he said of the incident. “Obviously you can’t control these things but seeing Teddy like that is not a good sight. Losing him in the game, too – I felt he was one of our best on the field.
“We’re wishing him well and hope he recovers quickly. He was good (in the sheds), happy and just went about his thing. I love playing next to him and hopefully he can get right and I can get back out with him soon.”
Sivo was put on report for the incident, but neither Robinson nor Brad Arthur thought that he should be charged given the accidental nature of the shot. Tedesco was falling as Sivo attempted a tackle and caught the Roosters fullback while low to the floor.
“I hope James is OK, but what more can he do?” said the Parra coach. “His hands are down beside him, James’ head falls into his arm.”
Sivo was only just making his return from a four game ban, time that Arthur said he had been using to practice tackle technique.
“He’s worked really hard on trying to get that part of it right,” he said. “You can see he’s a bit gun-shy with it because he’s worried about it. I don’t think he did anything wrong.
“I’m not taking away that there was contact with James’ head, but what is he supposed to do there? He tripped over into him.”
BigGordon
Roar Rookie
I think those in positions of power at the RLPA have views that are compromised by their playing days. I'm guessing many still refer back to their playing days, when getting knocked out but getting up and staying on the field, was seen as a badge of courage. If that's your starting experience, you have a very tough barrier to overcome before you can accept that brain injuries are as serious as we now know. You're also right that they're trying to walk the fine line between maximizing player earnings in a tough body contact sport, with player safety. What I find disappointing is there are all manner of things they should be doing that they're not, in terms of reducing head injuries. Why isn't there a player campaign to address tackling technique? Why aren't they asking the NRL to take more direct action on coaches who fail to fix perennial high tackle offenders? Where's the player campaign to ensure those in the junior ranks aren't picking up the bad habits they see every week on TV? Why hasn't the RLPA gotten a lawyer who understands the game, to write some draft laws about high shots, so there's more emphasis on tackling lower? These are just a few thoughts off the top of my head, all of which are doable yet none of which appear to be on the RLPA's horizon
Panthers
Roar Rookie
You’d have to be kidding. Look at the photos of when Sivo is striking him in the head. Not only is he swinging his arm down towards Tedesco’s head. He also has a clenched fist . He knew he’d be striking Tedesco , as suggested from the clenched fist. He just wasn’t sure which part of his arm or fist would do it?
Dumbo
Roar Rookie
Gordon; what really disappoints me is the Players Association seems to accept that. Perhaps they too want to prioritize earnings over health.
BigGordon
Roar Rookie
Your comment is exactly right if the NRL was all about having player health & safety as its number one priority. I'm hoping in the not too distant future, these suggestions, or variations on them, will become best practice. Right now though, Clubs are still in it for the almighty dollar and while that's the case, they'll do everything possible to get players ready to play as fast as possible, even if that means bringing back guys with head injuries before they should.
Big Mig
Roar Rookie
At this rate, Tedesco won't even remember what "went" on in Vegas. Seriously, he should take the rest of the season off, it would be silly of the club to let him play again this year.
jimmy jones
Roar Rookie
Sivo was lucky not to have his knees taken out
wilbas
Roar Rookie
What Siva did was pure accidental and could be classified as Tedesco headbutting Siva's forearm. Anybody with half a brain would not put it on report...Penalty?yes...he contacted head.
Dumbo
Roar Rookie
If I were Graham Annesley I would tell the clubs that from 2024: - first concussion: player stood down for two weeks - second concussion: player stood down for three weeks and so on. Any player stood down for concussion can retire immediately and be paid out for the rest of his contract (max two years - sorry Tino, you can't fiddle a $10M payout in Round 1 next year) and the payment will not count under the cap. Under this system, after nine concussions Teddy would have been stood down for ten weeks. He would have missed the rest of the season, finals and any rep games. If he wanted to come back again for 2024, he could do so, as long as he appreciated that another concussion would rub him out for nearly half a season. With a system like that in place, coaches and the Recruitment and Retention guys will decide that the risk of losing so much game time means that concussion-prone players cannot be re-hired, and should be encouraged to retire. Such a system would also probably reduce the incidence of CTE, and reduce the size of future payouts the NRL may have to make - because they have been seen to have taken steps to reduce the concussions.
Pilferer
Roar Rookie
Wow I would seriously think about sitting out till next season if I was Tedesco. 9 is way to many in the ufc you get a 3 month suspension after being knocked out so that would be 27 months. At what stage does the nrl step in and force clubs to sit players out. The roosters have handled these situations excellently in the past to their credit.
BigGordon
Roar Rookie
Three things stand out; How can the Bunker upgrade a HIA to category 1 unless they've got an independent doctor assessing the affected player? I like Robbo's comments about the player's health coming first. I'm also guessing if the Roosters can't comfortably beat the Tigers without Tedesco, they're barely making up the numbers assuming they get into the finals. It will be interesting to see what the Judiciary makes of incident that caused the HIA. At some point they have to acknowledge that defenders didn't do anything wrong, yet the attacking player sustained an injury, aka accidental contact.