I feel for the guy too, nice lad who plays hard. The nature of our sport is the clubs want players to do super human activities which by nature could cause serious long term injuries.
When something like a brain bleed happens as is the case with Eliesa, the clubs and the NRL have their hearts in their mouths hoping it's not the worst outcome. We all do.
Sorry for reading this thread late but I now know that he suffered a head knock in warm ups and a further 2 during the game.
OMG, how did this happen. Was the doctor informed of the warm up incident. If he was, he should have not played on after the first game head knock.... unbelievable. I still don't know the facts so I'll stay quiet, unless someone else knows more.
I can recall similar activity that forced players out of the game. Matt Hodson, I think was the only one who suffered a small brain bleed but others were from repeated concussions.
Shontayne Hape – effectively medical retired (serious neurological damage)
Boyd Cordner, multible head knocks
Jake Friend, multible head knocks
Matt Hodgson - small brain bleed and after an extended break from the game he returned to play.
James Graham - self-retired after brain scans showed lesions.
Kieran Foran, extended break, came back to play. Unsure though as he did have a bad bicep injury which might have been the cause for the layoff.
So really this is ground breaking territory and it with be interesting to see how it all pans out. Regardless, all the best Eliesa Katoa.
This link is a good source for how the NRL approaches the matter.
Find information relating to concussion symptoms and management.
www.playrugbyleague.com