brain snap

[Rex]

Rugby League will simply evolve if the authorities decide to reduce head knocks and potential brain damage.

Nothing to worry about MB.

 

[Wolfpack]

If anyone was serious about reducing head injury in the NRL then head gear would be compolsory. The amount of players that don't worry about head gear tells me they're not worried about head injury.

To be honest i don't think it's as big of an issue in the NRL as it is in the NFL. Strangely, i believe if the NFL banned armour and helmets then head injury in that competition would be minimal.

Head injuries, yes. Other injuries, no. But that's just the nature of the beast, NFL teams often lose more players in the pre-season than an NRL team will lose in an entire season.

It'd be good to see some figures or research into the current allowed rugby headgear & if it actually does any good. If it does then it probably does need to become compulsory.

 

[DSM5]

I was discussing the issue of concussion with my personal trainer last week and he told me that in boxing, brain injuries occur when the glove comes in contact with the head as a 'soft' collision. The boxing glove was introduced in boxing to lengthen the fights, as bare knuckle fights were usually over quickly and were more 'bloody, as one can understand. He was comparing boxing with cage fighting where the knuckle is protected by a wad, but the hits are harder and therefore the damage is bone on bone. Nice. Anyway, in American football, with the head supposedly protected by the carsh helmet, the brain sloshes around in the cranial space (ala boxing) more often than when a League player is tackled, because of the head/helmet contact in most tackles and when players pile onto players. Make of that what you like.

 

[Dan79]

If you were to go the extreme (I am not proposing that we do). a lot of sports would have a hard time clearing head knocks from there games. The sports at risk. Nfl, Nrl, rugby, boxing, ufc and similar and soccer. There have been heaps of studies done on heading the ball in soccer that show the trauma that it can do
Of course head high shots in the football codes are not intentional (except prior) there frequency is still high, so the exposure is high. AFL is the only contact sport that I think would have a good chance of removing high shots 99% of the time. For soccer you would have to ban heading.

 

[KOMORI]

I copped a LOT of head shots playing over the years, eventually required surgery to repair semi detatched retinas... One of the reasons I quit playing (aside from injuries) was NOT feeling big hits anymore: after each game I'd be missing "moments" of the game in my memory, and be told about how I'd been nailed and got up or whatever but had no clue it had happened or patchy memories of the event at best...

Hope I haven't brained my damage

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

Eliminating head shots won't take the risk of concussions out of the game. Example - many of Matai's bell-ringers are totally legal and he doesn't hit the head. That doesn't mean the brain doesn't get a pounding from the impact.

Often the biggest head knocks are either an accidental clash of heads, even of teammates, or an awkward fall resulting in the head slamming into the ground.

This simply means that the game will continue to be dangerous and a test of courage even if all reckless/intentional head shots are eliminated.

League does have fewer repetitive head knocks than NFL or boxing, thankfully. The game's focus should be on ensuring proper care and treatment of players who have been stunned. I recall the ferocious hits Foran copped from Tagatese last year, no-one can expect to go through that and not suffer some effects.

Also the game has a duty to cooperate with the health studies so that at least future players can go in with their eyes open knowing the risks. I never realised you could get brain damage from repeated head knocks even when you haven't had any symptons of concussion.