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England team doctor debunks the health myth too. Can’t we get him & the NZRL guy on a skype hookup with the NRL merkin?...
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/england-doctor-chris-brookes-dismisses-12251387?1
England doctor Chris Brookes dismisses NRL concerns over player safety in June test against New Zealand in Denver
NRL poised to send letter saying they cannot support the match but Brookes insists there is no medial evidence to back their fears.
England doctor Chris Brookes has dismissed claims from Australia that the June Test match against New Zealand in Denver could put players’ health at risk.
Reports Down Under state that a letter will this week be sent by the NRL, its clubs and the country’s player association saying that they cannot support the fixture over safety concerns.
They centre around questions over playing the game at an altitude of over a mile above sea, the travel involved, and the security of player contracts.
But Brookes - who has been England’sdoctor for almost 20 years - insists the health concerns are completely unfounded, while Mirror Sport understands that the player insurance for the match will be greater than that for last year’s World Cup.
Brookes said: “I have had the privilege of being the chief medical officer for Great Britain and England for the last 18 years and player welfare has always been the single most important matter for me.
“I was consulted over this game and I would never have sanctioned the match from a medical viewpoint if I wasn’t satisfied that full consideration was taken for the players’ welfare.
“My reputation for nearly 20 years has been based around that, and the reason I have sanctioned the game is that there is no medical or scientific evidence that I can find that it would be of detriment to the players’ health.
The stadium is 1,600 above sea level and there is no scientific evidence to support there being any health issues of playing at that height.
In fact I’m aware of many sports teams, especially in South Africa, that play at a much higher altitude.
“We have specifically asked the people in Denver whether anybody has ever suffered from altitude sickness at that ground and the answer was no.
That personal comment from them backs up the scientific evidence, and that’s important to ensure that our players are looked after to the highest possible standard.
“As a sub-plot to that, most Super League teams and the national team use altitude chambers at high performance facilities to gain a physiological advantage.
“Prior to the 2013 World Cup we took the England squad to South Africa to train at altitude so that the physical and chemical metabolic effect improved the performance of the team.”
Brookes also dismissed any issues over the travel involved for the fixture, and the heat in Denver.
He said: “There have been lengthy studies into injuries and travel and there is nothing to support whether travel increases the risk to injury.
What now underpins that is the meticulous attention to detail in terms of after-match recovery, and attention will be paid to appropriate hydration, the compression of limbs during the journey and utilising the latest sports science to its best effect.
“That’s what the England players coming back to Super League would be given, and my recommendations to the NRL players going back Australia would be exactly the same.
“It’s an area of sports science in which there have been huge advances.
“The other issue that has been mentioned is the heat.
“From the report that Jamie Peacock and Chris Black made from Denver recently, they stated that at the stadium it was a dry heat with low humidity.
Within the World Cup I had friends that played in matches in Darwin and Papua New Guinea, where it was not only very hot but the humidity was extreme.
“What the World Cup committee did was make a whole series of recommendations on heat management in their tournament manual, which was good and comprehensive.
“Of course we will follow that best practise for this game, but the risk is much less.”
Brookes believes the fixture in Denver would be less of a risk to participating players than the trend of State of Origin players Down Under backing up for their club teams as little as 48 hours later.
He added: “Within the NRL I have come across players that play in State of Origin games on Wednesday and then for their clubs at weekend - I would consider that to be more of a risk in respect to injuries.”
“Player welfare has been critical to me and it’s what I’ve based my reputation on in the game - we need to have some consistency with the approach to that in the NRL and Super League.”
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/england-doctor-chris-brookes-dismisses-12251387?1
England doctor Chris Brookes dismisses NRL concerns over player safety in June test against New Zealand in Denver
NRL poised to send letter saying they cannot support the match but Brookes insists there is no medial evidence to back their fears.
England doctor Chris Brookes has dismissed claims from Australia that the June Test match against New Zealand in Denver could put players’ health at risk.
Reports Down Under state that a letter will this week be sent by the NRL, its clubs and the country’s player association saying that they cannot support the fixture over safety concerns.
They centre around questions over playing the game at an altitude of over a mile above sea, the travel involved, and the security of player contracts.
But Brookes - who has been England’sdoctor for almost 20 years - insists the health concerns are completely unfounded, while Mirror Sport understands that the player insurance for the match will be greater than that for last year’s World Cup.
Brookes said: “I have had the privilege of being the chief medical officer for Great Britain and England for the last 18 years and player welfare has always been the single most important matter for me.
“I was consulted over this game and I would never have sanctioned the match from a medical viewpoint if I wasn’t satisfied that full consideration was taken for the players’ welfare.
“My reputation for nearly 20 years has been based around that, and the reason I have sanctioned the game is that there is no medical or scientific evidence that I can find that it would be of detriment to the players’ health.
The stadium is 1,600 above sea level and there is no scientific evidence to support there being any health issues of playing at that height.
In fact I’m aware of many sports teams, especially in South Africa, that play at a much higher altitude.
“We have specifically asked the people in Denver whether anybody has ever suffered from altitude sickness at that ground and the answer was no.
That personal comment from them backs up the scientific evidence, and that’s important to ensure that our players are looked after to the highest possible standard.
“As a sub-plot to that, most Super League teams and the national team use altitude chambers at high performance facilities to gain a physiological advantage.
“Prior to the 2013 World Cup we took the England squad to South Africa to train at altitude so that the physical and chemical metabolic effect improved the performance of the team.”
Brookes also dismissed any issues over the travel involved for the fixture, and the heat in Denver.
He said: “There have been lengthy studies into injuries and travel and there is nothing to support whether travel increases the risk to injury.
What now underpins that is the meticulous attention to detail in terms of after-match recovery, and attention will be paid to appropriate hydration, the compression of limbs during the journey and utilising the latest sports science to its best effect.
“That’s what the England players coming back to Super League would be given, and my recommendations to the NRL players going back Australia would be exactly the same.
“It’s an area of sports science in which there have been huge advances.
“The other issue that has been mentioned is the heat.
“From the report that Jamie Peacock and Chris Black made from Denver recently, they stated that at the stadium it was a dry heat with low humidity.
Within the World Cup I had friends that played in matches in Darwin and Papua New Guinea, where it was not only very hot but the humidity was extreme.
“What the World Cup committee did was make a whole series of recommendations on heat management in their tournament manual, which was good and comprehensive.
“Of course we will follow that best practise for this game, but the risk is much less.”
Brookes believes the fixture in Denver would be less of a risk to participating players than the trend of State of Origin players Down Under backing up for their club teams as little as 48 hours later.
He added: “Within the NRL I have come across players that play in State of Origin games on Wednesday and then for their clubs at weekend - I would consider that to be more of a risk in respect to injuries.”
“Player welfare has been critical to me and it’s what I’ve based my reputation on in the game - we need to have some consistency with the approach to that in the NRL and Super League.”
