Former Kangaroos star Ian Roberts will reveal rugby league has left him with brain da

[Bengal]

If you pro-shoulder charge posters keep going on about concussions from other forms of contact and someone (in power) listens to you; than the end result will be the game will disappear.

Logic dictates that the game will disappear. A focus on one form of concussion and a blind eye to every other form this game engenders does not compute. It is only a matter of time before every form is put under the spotlight and the consequences therein falling into line with the shoulder charge focus. This game will be banned; it will be too ?costly? to society to be allowed to carry on especially given that the drive to make the world a safer and healthier place is gathering momentum with each passing day. What is still standing today will soon be wiped out by the next wave of health and safety concerns that are within sight of us already!

It is a real shame that the game has capitulated to surface level analysis but better a quick death than a slow one I say.

.

 

[magpie4ever]

Logic dictates that the game will disappear. A focus on one form of concussion and a blind eye to every other form this game engenders does not compute. It is only a matter of time before every form is put under the spotlight and the consequences therein falling into line with the shoulder charge focus. This game will be banned; it will be too ?costly? to society to be allowed to carry on especially given that the drive to make the world a safer and healthier place is gathering momentum with each passing day. What is still standing today will soon be wiped out by the next wave of health and safety concerns that are within sight of us already!

It is a real shame that the game has capitulated to surface level analysis but better a quick death than a slow one I say.

.

I think many others sports will disappear (on safety grounds) before rugby league goes. It will be around when I depart this earth and will still around when my kids do the same.

 

[Bengal]

^ ^ ^
Amateur League may be around forever and a day, a professional non-contact version of League may also survive.
Otherwise, it is only a matter of time before the next wave of health professionals plug the holes that the current wave have turned their backs on. This game has opened itself up to be easily influenced by the health profession. There’s no turning back from that and likewise, most posters here can spot the inconsistency in health-based rulings – ban concussion inducing play ‘x’ but keep concussion inducing plays ‘a, b and c’. This inconsistency will not fly with the next wave of medicos. Game over.

 

[El Diablo]

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/spo...acting-on-issues/story-fnca0von-1226861703014

Don’t knock league, we’re acting on issues

Craig Bellamy
The Australian
March 22, 2014 12:00AM

CONCUSSION is an issue in our game and so it should demand our attention. Taking far too many sleeping pills is obviously against the best interests of anyone’s health, including rugby league players.

But I am keen to see these two player-welfare issues kept in context. If we go a little over the top on these two, we will damage our game and I’ll tell you why.

First concussion.

The NRL has done a lot to try to remove the dangers of concussion in our game. The league has introduced rules that clubs must follow if a player is concussed during play.

It’s a contact sport and unfortunately concussions are going to happen at times. But the league has done a good job, and a really big job, in trying to lessen the chances of concussion.

The shoulder charge has been ruled out, head-high tackles are dealt with pretty severely at the judiciary, and throwing a punch has also been banned. That’s a clear way of stopping players from getting hit in the head, while removing the shoulder charge has reduced the whiplash effect on the neck and brain.

So our game is a lot cleaner, or less dangerous if you like, as far as head injuries go, than it was 10, 20, 30 years ago.

One of the reasons our league has been so strong more recently is probably what’s been happening in the NFL with the number of players suing for compensation.

But it might surprise you that rugby league is not the sport where the severity of concussions is greatest.

The NRL club chief executives were recently addressed by leading concussion expert and associate professor Paul McCrory of Victoria’s Florey Institute, who gave a great insight into the research going on in relation to head injuries.

Horse racing topped the list, he explained, and that included steeplechase and show jumping.

We have heard a lot recently about concussion in rugby league. We’ve had ex-players talk about brain damage openly and bravely.

But we must be careful we don’t shoot ourselves in the foot on this important player-safety issue. Rugby league is in a real dogfight with other sporting codes for talent. We reach out to schools and to parents to try to recruit as many juniors as we can.

However, the saturation of coverage on the concussion in rugby league at the moment would turn any parent away.

If I had school-age kids still, I would be questioning whether to let them play too. We don’t seem to hear about it rugby union or the AFL or other sports.

So we need to emphasise the work the NRL is doing, and has already done, to reduce head injuries. We need to discuss concussion in that context.

 

[El Diablo]

However, the saturation of coverage on the concussion in rugby league at the moment would turn any parent away.

If I had school-age kids still, I would be questioning whether to let them play too. We don’t seem to hear about it rugby union or the AFL or other sports.

the object of the DT's saturation coverage is to stop kids playing the game

you don't read about it in AFL and Yawnion because their journos actually like the game they report on. plus Demetriou would not let a journalist do what RL journos do without serious repercussions

 

[magpie4ever]

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/spo...acting-on-issues/story-fnca0von-1226861703014

It is like Craig Bellamy read everyone of my posts on here and rehashed them.

I'm so proud of myself.

 

[El Diablo]

http://www.news.com.au/national/sup...ion-drama-queens/story-e6frfkp9-1226862563010

Supercoach Wayne Bennett blasts rugby league’s concussion ‘drama queens’

42 minutes ago March 24, 2014 12:00AM

WAYNE Bennett doesn’t often pick up the telephone and ring this newspaper.

But the supercoach is seriously annoyed about the recent coverage of concussion and brain injuries in rugby league.

Anyone who knows Bennett will tell that he has always regarded player welfare more importantly than two competition points.

Recently he has been accused in certain sections of the media of ignoring the dangers of head injuries.

“Duty of care is something I really value and care about,” he said.

“Some of the stuff that has been written about one of my players, Robbie Rochow, is factually wrong and an insult to our doctor and physio.

“No-one takes this stuff more seriously than I do. The drama queens are in play now. You’ve got to wait and listen to the experts.”

So over the weekend he put me in touch with one of the country’s most prominent medical specialists.

Professor Chris Levi is a neurologist and director of the Hunter Medical Research Institute and the brain and mental health program.

This is the email he sent me.

“A responsible medical scientist would be shouted down for claiming ‘proof’ of a cause for a medical condition based on anecdote, case report and low level evidence,” he says.

“Claiming a ‘cause and effect’ relationship between concussion and neurological illness in rugby league players is not justified.

“High quality, reliable scientific evidence is currently lacking. Naïve media reporting scientific data can, at times, unintentionally mislead or sensationalise.

“The work highlighted by Peter Fitzsimons recently is preliminary and has serious flaws.

“In contrast, Wayne Bennett’s recent comments in the media recently were balanced and appropriate based on the current level of understanding of any potential long-term impact of concussion.

“Where there is concern but a lack of scientific evidence, it is appropriate to adopt caution and undertake rigorous research.

“The NRL has done the former and medical researchers in Australia are doing the latter.

“In medical science there are standards of proof required before pronouncements are made about causes of disease.

“I do not expect journalists to be expert in critical appraisal of scientific studies and evidence.

“However, the non-medical expert members of the public should expect a balanced reporting and should expect not to be misled.”

Another senior neurologist Dr Sam Sorrenti supported by what Professor Levi is saying.

Two years ago your columnist proudly led the campaign to get rid of the shoulder charge.

It was for one reason only – that medical experts, far more qualified than coaches and officials, wanted it banned.

Again we should be listening to them.

Three former players, out of the tens of thousands that have played the game, have gone public with claims of brain damage.

It a tiny percentage of all those who have played the game.

 

[NrlCoach]

WAYNE Bennett shouldnt be picking up the telephone. It David Smith who should be picking up the phone or holding a press conference to end this constant attack on the game by the news corp. They are using the concussion issue to attack the image of the game. They will keep attacking rugby league because they know we have weak admin who wont stand up for the game.

 

[El Diablo]

it's the opposite

they attack the game because Smith is not Gallop who was at their beck and call

 

[Pete Cash]

That Bellamy article was really good.

 

[herbert henry1908]

I see this week fitzsimons is questioning the integrity of some of the NRL club doctors.



But yeah , he's really criticising all the codes equally. :sarcasm: