Concussions and Protecting Our Players

[Braveheart81]

And to be clear, I don't have a problem with the principle. I found it a bit galling that when the balance was returned after 20 minutes, the 'offending' team was back at full complement while the Rebels (insert any other team, not being parochial) were still a man down.

How were they a man down though? Surely Fa'amausili was replaced immediately and the Rebels never played with less than 15 players.

 

[Tex]

Pone was unable to return to the field while AAA was.

 

[Froggy]

No, AAA can't return.
After 20 minutes he is replaced, but he can't come back on.
I haver to agree with BH regarding injury, the extent of the injury should have no bearing on the severity of the punishment. If you flip a player on to his head in an illegal tackle, it is only good luck when he doesn't get injured, the offence is exactly the same.

 

[Tex]

Ahhh got you. Sorry, that's my misinterpretation

 

[Mr Wobbly]

I have a suggestion about this..... replacing carded players, front rowers in particular.

If a front rower is sent off they need to be replaced by another front rower so someone else gets subbed. For some reason it seems to usually be a loose forward. I think the opposing captain should be able to nominate who is subbed and neither that player or the carded player can rejoin the game.

Currently if #1 is red carded, #6 goes off and #17 comes on. After 20 mins #6 is allowed to come back.

Change it to: #1 is red carded, #17 comes on and the opposing captain nominates who goes off. After 20 mins a different benchie can join the game.

 

[Derpus]

That's weird. Why should the opposing captain get to dictate how subs are used?

 

[Braveheart81]

I have a suggestion about this... replacing carded players, front rowers in particular.

If a front rower is sent off they need to be replaced by another front rower so someone else gets subbed. For some reason it seems to usually be a loose forward. I think the opposing captain should be able to nominate who is subbed and neither that player or the carded player can rejoin the game.

Currently if #1 is red carded, #6 goes off and #17 comes on. After 20 mins #6 is allowed to come back.

Change it to: #1 is red carded, #17 comes on and the opposing captain nominates who goes off. After 20 mins a different benchie can join the game.

Why should the punishment be greater because it is a front rower that earns the card?

 

[Slim 293]

Yep, the team effectively lose two starting players when a front rower is carded......... the punishment doesn't need to be any more severe.

 

[Merrow]

Geoff Parkes on The Roar said that he checked with the Rebels as to the severity of Pone’s knock. He showed no signs of concussion after the hit. They decided not to put him back on because it was a heavy knock and close to the time they’d take him off anyway

 

[Dctarget]

Geoff Parkes on The Roar said that he checked with the Rebels as to the severity of Pone’s knock. He showed no signs of concussion after the hit. They decided not to put him back on because it was a heavy knock and close to the time they’d take him off anyway

Happy to hear they were cautious about it.

 

[Brumby Runner]

That's weird. Why should the opposing captain get to dictate how subs are used?

And in what fantasy world should the player who goes off to allow a replacement prop to come on not be able to return at the end of the 20 minute period? He isn't guilty of any offence. Not the best suggestion I've ever seen.

 

[half]

Fairfax article says 1 in 4 rugby players effected by concussion .

Major study from the UK, funded by both union and league. copied the first bit only of the article ..

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/sp...-could-have-brain-damage-20210722-p58bxe.html

Half of elite adult rugby players have shown an unexpected reduction in brain volume and almost a quarter display abnormalities in brain structure, according to new research.
The Drake Foundation, which funded the study conducted by the Imperial College London, has called for rule changes to protect players due to the risks of concussion. The research team - in collaboration with rugby union and league clubs across the United Kingdom - used advanced neuroimaging techniques to look at the brains of current elite rugby players compared to control subjects that don’t play the sport.
Former England rugby international Lewis Moody supported the research.
“I feel player welfare is not always at the forefront of people’s minds,” Moody said.

 

[dru]

I find myself conflicted over these things. Still, another report - NSW study, this time reported at CNN.

Rugby players' brains affected by 'chronic exposure' to collisions throughout a season, study shows | CNN

Professional rugby union players can experience a decrease in blood flow to the brain over the course of a season due to the effects of collisions, a new study has found.

edition.cnn.com

 

[Highlander35]

Following Rugby players (and ex players) on Twitter is some of the best evidence for CTE out there.

 

[Dctarget]

Carl Hayman diagnosed with early-onset dementia, aged 41. Fuck me, aged 41 is genuinely terrifying. I have no idea how world rugby are going to fix this. He only finished playing a few years ago.

Apparently he clocked up 156 matches for Toulon in 5 years. Probably need to reduce that hey.

 

[Tex]

It's so scary. Curious about whether this avalanche of knowledge is changing parents' minds about rugby (or any contact sport) being appropriate for their kids?

All the data looks at elite levels where the physical impacts can be traumatic, but we'd be myopic to assume that amateurs aren't subject to similar (if reduced) risks.

 

[Derpus]

Carl Hayman diagnosed with early-onset dementia, aged 41. Fuck me, aged 41 is genuinely terrifying. I have no idea how world rugby are going to fix this. He only finished playing a few years ago.

Apparently he clocked up 156 matches for Toulon in 5 years. Probably need to reduce that hey.

32 is the current cap, init?

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

DH-P has retired

Concussion forces Wallabies fullback Dane Haylett-Petty into retirement

Dane Haylett-Petty has called time on his career after struggling with long-lasting effects of concussion.

www.stuff.co.nz

 

[liquor box]

World Rugby’s cynical deflection over brain injuries is an insult to the players | Michael Aylwin

Governing body’s posturing over the cause of early onset dementia among ex-players is extraordinarily insensitive

www.theguardian.com

So it’s not the brain injuries after all. Those rugby players diagnosed with dementia in their early 40s, steadily growing in number, must be comforted to learn that the repetitive brain trauma they suffered in their playing careers is but one of 12 modifiable risk factors that might have contributed to their conditions.

This is the latest angle World Rugby has come up with, as the posturing continues in advance of impending lawsuits.

This time, World Rugby is effectively saying to the players, don’t drink, don’t smoke, eat well, keep exercising, maintain an active social life, do the crossword – for the rest of your natural lives – and all will be well.

It is offensive to Carl Hayman (41 at diagnosis), Steve Thompson (42), Alix Popham (40), Michael Lipman (40) and their families, to name just a few, when the governors of the sport to which they gave so much imply their devastating conditions might, even in part, be the result of their own “modifiable” lifestyle choices.

Good article, it does seem that Rugby is doing whatever it can to minimise their responsibilities without admitting that the elephant in the room belongs to them.

 

[D-Box]

New paper in the research literature has found that retired elite players had more concussions than amateurs and now worse mental health. Amateurs not too different to non contact athletes

Mental Health and Wellbeing of Retired Elite and Amateur Rugby Players and Non-contact Athletes and Associations with Sports-Related Concussion: The UK Rugby Health Project - PubMed

There was a significantly higher prevalence of adverse mental health and sleep disruption in ER and in former athletes who reported a higher number of concussions. Anger and irritability were more prevalent in former athletes with a history of five or more concussions. Strategies are needed to...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov