The NRL has today reminded clubs that a genuinely injured player can be replaced during a scrum if the referee has signalled ‘time-off’.
Normal interchange procedures do not allow players to be replaced during scrums as a way of preventing unnecessary stoppages.
A number of Newcastle injuries around the same time in the Newcastle v Manly game yesterday led to confusion over the replacement of forward Richie Fa’aoso, who had suffered a concussion.
“The NRL Ground Manager at Brookvale on Sunday was actually trying to get the attention of the trainer to advise him of the fact that an interchange could be made,” NRL Director of Football Operations, Mr Nathan McGuirk, said today.
“A notice was sent to all clubs in 2009 making it clear that the rule to prevent interchanges at scrums was never intended to penalise a team in the case of a genuine injury.
“If a player is genuinely injured and the referee calls ‘time-off’ a replacement can be made and we have reminded all clubs and interchange officials of that fact.”
The NRL is also continuing a review of procedures for dealing with concussion that was initiated a number of weeks ago.
“When I started in this position I began discussions with NRL Chief Medical Officer Ron Muratore on our current Head Injury policy,” Mr McGuirk said.
“Ron has already been in touch with clubs and is this Thursday coordinating a phone conference with NRL Club Doctors to discuss:
o Whether there is a case for standardising post-concussive procedures and testing across all NRL Clubs;
o Whether there should be further investigation into standardising game day procedures across all Clubs when dealing with concussed players during a match.
“Once we receive the feedback from Doctors on these issues there will be further consultation with clubs.”
