Concussions and Protecting Our Players

[PhilClinton]

He also makes reference to Walsh being 'really fast' so these types of accidents can happen.

So the argument there is freakishly fast players might get injured more often and they should just cop it?

Okay.

 

[The Ghost of Raelene]

I agree with you and think the injuries will force an action even though I disagree with penalties being reactionary to outcome. Being a star player I'm sure also carries influence.

League have a problem with head clashes and it's made it's way to a lesser extent into Rugby as the wrestle has taken a big part in defence. They all want to keep a player up to slow the play the ball in league and to create a turnover opportunity in Rugby. In doing so both players end up with heads in the same region. Didn't see this with a wrap the legs tackle. Of course guys get caught on hips and knees but that was 90% of the time tackler error.

In the moment I did think May looked to move his head/brace to get away from impact but there was no stopping it. Defenders responsible for the actions so it's his fault even if an accident has occurred.

 

[PhilClinton]

I have a feeling with any head contact the NRL will want the commentators, players and general narrative move away from the word 'accident' and start using more 'careless' or 'reckless' depending on the situation.

The closest incident to this I can think of in the NRL was last year when Marty Kapow knee'd Jordan Rapana in the head whilst trying to recovering a kicked ball (I think). Rapana was stretched off the field and Marty was sent to the bin and later charged with 'reckless' head contact from his actions. In the moment though I recall the commentators saying it was bad but clearly an accident.

 

[LeCheese]

The 'accident' narrative goes hand in hand with 'just one of those things, can't do anything about it' justification for inaction - the NRL might actually want to promote that line of thinking, at least until they can work out a path forward. Not sure that'll go well in any class actions down the line though...

 

[Braveheart81]

It has taken rugby long enough to grapple with this and in some circumstances still is.

I feel like the NRL will take ages to accept that the you can't just write off the bulk of head contact (particularly head clashes) as being accidental and leave it at that. Of course it's accidental. It doesn't make the potential damage any less. You very clearly have to limit the behaviour that is driving the accidental head contact because it is invariably careless or reckless as you stated.

He also makes reference to Walsh being 'really fast' so these types of accidents can happen.

As the saying goes, big guys can't run without legs.

I guess little fast guys can't run when they've been knocked the fuck out. Players like Kalyn Ponga have certainly been targeted over the years with some pretty questionable tackling to try and limit their impact.

 

[LeCheese]

Confirmed that May hasn't been charged by the judiciary, so looks like nothing will happen.

 

[LeCheese]

Last post I'll make on it noting it's not our sport of choice, but this discussion from the 9 team is even better than the Fox commentators!

https://fb.watch/qYE5wsuSbX/

 

[liquor box]

The problem with having an independent governing body is who takes on the risk?

If you make a guideline and it is adhered to but someone develops CTE then who gets sued?

I don't think CTE can be stopped in any contact code, it may be possible to reduce the risk but it will always and has always existed.

 

[Braveheart81]

Surprisingly good from Fittler and Thurston here. Absolutely unsurprising that Gallen doesn't have an issue with it.

 

[PhilClinton]

I don’t think anyone has suggested you can remove head knocks from a game full stop.

But if all codes follow the same framework for prevention and treatment as a starting point, it means a collective agreement regarding player welfare and safety. The end game being contact sports in Australia hopefully continue well into the future.

At the moment with the drastically different approaches, it’s more likely a severe issue may emerge in the NRL for example, but the flow on effects will no doubt impact all the codes.

 

[Strewthcobber]

We will need to be careful with that line of thinking. AFL and league could go hardline "no contact" above the shoulders. They wouldn't like it, but it could be done.

I don't think rucks in our sport are possible if you take a "zero tolerance" head contact approach. There's multiple low impact, but high contact just about every breakdown.

Maybe we do need to think about it though, given concussion is not that much difference between the sports in the scheme of things, even though league tackles are higher now. It's probably the ruck that makes our stats look worse

 

[RemainingInTheGame]

Off topic: I Wonder if a "no contact" above shoulders would rule out the header in soccer (i.e. force a rule or ball design change)?

Probably on the 'threats' list for FIFA due to the brain impact it can have.

 

[Strewthcobber]

It's definitely coming. I coach underage soccer, and while there's no ban yet, we don't train headers and are encouraged to avoid them

 

[The Ghost of Raelene]

I know nothing about Soccer but that would be a big change. Wouldn't it basically remove 90% of the threat from a corner?

 

[PhilClinton]

Upside for rugby if headers get banned in soccer, they won’t need any lanky blokes so we should get a heap of second rowers.

 

[Derpus]

Yes but you can still see the advantage for the attacking team. A ball into the box that, while you can't attack in the air, can't be cleared in the air by defenders.

Thinking about it, it would be chaos. I can see a bomb typed ploy becoming a thing, particularly for lesser teams.

 

[PhilClinton]

The goal keeper becomes empowered more though, no risk of flying headers means they can be more aggressive at catching the ball mid air.

 

[Braveheart81]

Banning headers is soccer is purely a juniors thing isn't it? In some countries it already exists up to under 10s or under 12s and I think the Australian discussion is potentially to around under 15s.

I can't see it ever extending to adults. Maybe there's a direction on how many headers per week players should be doing in training?

In other news, certain sections of the AFL are losing their minds over the likely upcoming suspension for the Essendon player in this incident.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1771787794966618458

They don't seem to accept that things are changing and what might have just been a "football collision" in the past now isn't. It's good to see that a duty of care is starting to be imposed on players and it's not acceptable to just fly in and smash someone in a vulnerable position.

 

[Derpus]

Nothing like a solid hit from an elbow and then the ground to shorten your life by 20 years.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

Brain injury from head knocks discovered in late Blues halfback Billy Guyton​

Current affairs program Sunday airing a piece this week. Shorts look confronting but not ACA-style sensationalism. I'll keep an eye out for it online & post the link if/ when I find it.