As I get older, my memory starts to play tricks on me. I begin to question whether some things may or may not have happened. Did I actually wear the number 4 jersey for the Dragons in the early 70s, or just imagine it? Was 47.53 my career batting average or was it my bowling average?
Did rugby league once have a very strong stance on high contact supported by innovative head injury protocols, or were the rules changed in early September this year as some sort of “bring back the biff” initiative?
Fortunately, my friends and the record books have been able to put me straight about my limited sporting achievements, but the high contact/HIA protocol question continues to be a puzzle to my old concussion impacted brain.
Early in the 2023 season it seemed that players were being constantly reported and sin binned for making high contact on an opponent (deservedly so in the great majority of cases) while the independent doctor was busy sending one or two players to the sideline game for a head injury assessment in nearly every if they showed the slightest signs of concussion.
Queensland’s Selwyn Cobbo is attended to by trainers. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
A very conservative approach, but all done both in the interests of player safety and the mitigation of legal claims against the NRL, and presumably done with the full support of the Rugby League Players Association who exist to look after players’ interests.
So many players were leaving the field in some games, either for their discretions or for head injury assessment, that there was an growing cry that the game was being ruined somewhat as a spectacle, and perhaps the size of the bench should be increased so that teams with concussed players weren’t being unnecessarily disadvantaged.
To protect players further, those adjudged to have received the worst concussions (category 1) were subject to a mandatory 11 day stand down, which essentially meant that they missed the next game. This was a great innovation for the health of individual players and even though clubs clearly hated it, the majority of league fans saw it as being a big step in the right direction in regard to player safety and their long-term wellbeing.
Fast forward a few months to the beginning of September and the 2023 finals series and you could be forgiven for thinking that the NRL had suddenly turned the clock back a few years.
Roosters forward Brandon Smith is taken off in Auckland. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
Games were characterised by multiple cases of high contact that largely went unpunished except for the occasional penalty, numerous players who were clearly suffering some level of concussion played on regardless, and it appeared that the independent doctor was away on house calls rather than identifying players who should have been taken off for assessment.
As for the mandatory stand down, where did that go?
This ‘back to the future’ approach was also well and truly in vogue during the end of year international fixtures, with big hits aplenty, frequent high contact, barely a sin bin or HIA in sight, and the independent doctor nowhere to be seen.
A cynical person might conclude that player safety was expediently ignored at the end of the year in the interests of the contest, and “giving fans what they want”. I wonder what the RLPA’s thoughts were on this?
Anyway, no doubt player safety and all the bells and whistles that go with it will be back on the agenda for the start of the 2024 season, although I suspect not for the games in Vegas. Nothing will spoil the spectacle more than players being sent off either to the sin bin or for HIA assessment, and after all, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
After the “big hits and incredible touch downs” advertising campaign, the last thing the NRL wants is for the American viewing audience to think that NRL players are mere mortals after all, and perhaps the sight of the odd concussed player battling on regardless will add to the gladiatorial spectacle.
Brett Allen
Roar Rookie
No I’m sure they don’t, but they would know the risks involved. It’s not hard to figure that out. But in the end we are still talking about usurping an adults right to make their own choices. Ultimately they are only potentially hurting themselves. They have the right to do so if they wish.
matth
Roar Guru
You are assuming every kid who plays rugby league has a full understanding of the mechanics and long term effects of concussion
Tony Dargon
Roar Guru
Save your legs mate. Nothing of note in my sporting past.
Robbo
Roar Rookie
Hmmmm.....I'll keep guessing - you said early 70s
Tony Dargon
Roar Guru
The one game halfback for the Dragons in the early 70s? I was never clever enough to play halfback. :happy:
Robbo
Roar Rookie
On another note - does this mean you are Tony White? :rugby:
Brett Allen
Roar Rookie
Because foul play is still an inherent risk of the game, even if it is against the rules.
Daffyd
Roar Rookie
Brett, "Dignity of Risk" is a term that specifically refers to those who are in the care of others being able to make their own decisions. In this situation I believe you are using the term out of context. Dignity of risk is the idea that self-determination and the right to take reasonable risks are essential for dignity and self esteem and so should not be impeded by excessively-cautious caregivers, concerned about their duty of care. The concept is applicable to adults who are under care such as elderly people, people living with disability, and people with mental health problems. It has also been applied to children, including those living with disabilities. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dignity_of_risk Mount Everest and Niagara Falls tight rope walking are what I consider to be examples of extreme risk taking. Are you really saying that playing League (or union for that matter) is extreme risk taking?
Daffyd
Roar Rookie
Gary, what an awful experience. I don't see how you could ever forget. Thank you for sharing this, It's a sobering reminder of how important the concussion issue is.
Daffyd
Roar Rookie
So I accept that when I played that if I got concussed when making a tackle, (and I always tackled low, thigh high or lower, so if I copped a knee in the head every so often) it was my error not the player with the ball However, if the rules do not allow head high tackles, and a player gets hurt by a head high tackle, why should that player not be allowed to sue when it is outside the rules of the game?
Tony Dargon
Roar Guru
Harrowing stuff Gary. I too suffered concussions and gave the game away as a result and I'm glad I did. There aren't many teammates left these days, and those who are aren't travelling well. The NRL, and other sports, have to take their duty of care seriously and apply their rules and protocols consistently.
Tony Dargon
Roar Guru
Like I said, what an odd position
Tony Dargon
Roar Guru
Well I'm betting they would, if they still had the cognitive ability to do so
Gary Russell-Sharam
Roar Rookie
On the subject of Concussion. I have experienced numerous concussions in my life as early as 13 years old being knocked out at school, loosing that day and the next to oblivion, then when I was 17, I spent 23 hours in a coma in hospital after a head kicking. and then multiple times in the boxing ring being knocked out. Luckily I have not had any lasting effects and I am now 78 years young. However on the other side of the coin I witnessed the ultimate result for concussion one day at a Rugby match in lower grades. I watched a player get tackled quite innocuously and go to ground he didn't move, we ran out and stretched him off and he was lying on the front apron of the club and went into a death rattle and died on the spot there and then. You see he had been tackled the week earlier in a match and had been knocked out but recovered, or seemly he did. The problem was that he had sustained a brain embolism in the first instance and didn't know and when he got tackled the next week it burst and he died instantly. This was all before anyone was concerned about concussion (mid 70s) This was rather devastating to me as I could not revive him and it will stay with me for my life time. So even though I loved playing contact sport all my life there is a duty of care that should be addressed in regard to concussion. I realise that I'm one of the lucky ones, however there are many that are not near as lucky as me
Brett Allen
Roar Rookie
Have you not seen every time a player feels fine and knows he’s not concussed ? Players know when they are fine. Simple observation
Brett Allen
Roar Rookie
Why ? Allowing my son to make his own choices.
Brett Allen
Roar Rookie
In that case I would refuse to, I’m not willing to take that risk. I don’t need them to mitigate the risk, I’m just not gonna get out on that rope, no matter how you offer me.
Brett Allen
Roar Rookie
You couldn’t drag me to an Anonymous League game
Brett Allen
Roar Rookie
Yes they have, but if you asked him would he have changed a thing about his career ? I’m betting the vast majority would not.
Brett Allen
Roar Rookie
Mitigating external risk in the form of foul play yes, you can’t tip a guy on his head these days, but the game doesn’t prevent or penalise a guy from doing that to himself.