Rugby League's Head Injury Protocols Under Fire

Shots Fired from Warrington Camp tackle number five and a little bit of shots fired from the Warrington Camp yeah s Burgess was absolutely fuming this weekend with the Paul red card he went on Sky Sports after he did the usual you know that thing where they say I'm not going to say anything cuz I'm going to get fine but it was an absolute disgrace if people turn up to a grand final to watch that it'd be absolutely embarrassing yeah and he really unloaded without trying to unload and you could really see the frustration his face and a lot of fans have backed him um I suppose leads us to talk back again about head injuries and red cards and Debating the Paul Vaughan Red Card where the boundaries are set with with um with the referees I mean what what did you make of the challenge first of all the Paul Vaughn red card I don't think know enough to say it was very bad when you look at it it looks like that looks like a kind of collision that happens in every game every level two or three times a match you know and you know I know we've got to protect it I think Jamie Jones M Canon's got a really balanced view on all this it's like we've got to protect our players however we need to do it in a way that's you know that's that sort of doesn't kill the game um and I can agree with it what The Role of Technology in Rugby I'd potentially like to see is you know we know they have the gum Shields um with the accelerometers and I know they don't have they don't have to wear it do they unless they get a head strike no but if they are wearing uh one of these special gum Shields I think it might be in it might be beneficial for The Spectators to see the data see the shock on the head because I looked and I thought yeah all right there's a bit of a bang there but I don't think it's that severe especially when you got other players reportedly I didn't see it or hear it myself saying you know stay down stay down stay you know telling them to stay on the floor that's the bit I absolutely despise I just hate it yeah and well so with the data if we could show that look there's a significant impact to the Head then I think it'd be an easier pill to swallow um but personally I certainly don't think it was a red card like everybody else you know s burges knows far more about rubber League than I do so I agree I'm not going to go against what he's saying um yellow card I think even a yellow card might have been too much you know I think a penalty on the pitch let's move on there was definitely some collision Mitigating Circumstances in Tackles with the head and to the letter of law that's what we're trying to stamp out but he had two other players in the tackle yeah they said no mitigating circumstan was definitely mitigating circumstances there were two other players in the tackle that moved the player as he came in tackle so I mean I don't we don't want to get into that stage of we just firing shots at referees cuz they're just following the the letter of the law but I I don't think it was a red card and actually he he did have a fair point if that happened in a grand final and that dict tackle dictated the outcome of the Grand Final we'd all be absolutely fuming and it's not right so they need to keep looking at it I think yeah um and then obviously they went on for a similar tackle in the hoodies field Saints match where f Rogers and I think this one was even softer cuz I think you know the Paul vs definitely contact with the shoulder shoulder was there whereas Fenton Rogers it was upper part of the arm I thought it was the crook of the elbow at first but definitely looks like the upper part of the arm so I think this is even softer you know but um I Frustration Among Fans and Players think the thing for me is that there was no real malice in in either challenge well no I don't think there was but I mean there's always a bit of malice in a tackle isn't there I know you don't not going out to take someone's but you you can't be passive in a tackle you've got to be aggressive true but the Fenton Rogers One certainly he was just going through the motions of making a tackle it was yeah there was nothing in that at all and if we if we're losing play for for those sort of challenges we're we're in for a difficult couple of years I think I mean I'm I'm with you we we've said all year we need to make the game safer people don't want to be getting head injuries it's you know lasting effects but yeah I think something's not quite right I don't think we're maybe the laws need tweaking a little bit I think yeah well hopefully something well something's got to be done you know what I mean there's too many eyes on this now there's too many people getting slated you know what I mean for it to be uh and people will people will kind of show they'll vote with their feet and they just stop turning up stop watching yeah it's not healthy look for the sport either when the only thing that the fans are talking about is whether or not someone should or shouldn't have been sent off and you're always going to get that debate and we've had that debate for forever in rugby league but it seems at the minute that fans just generally are a bit lost with what's going on so Addressing Players Staying Down let's say we take the frustration let's just park that for a second when we look at this this idea that players are saying stay down stay down you know to to win that so they know that the the video ref's going to have a look at it you know what I mean and then make a decision based on on like in retrospect like what about that like if if there's any what can we do to stamp that well we aled about this a couple of weeks ago didn't we players staying down I can't stand it and and it is happening 100% it's happening I I cannot stand it if you if you if you go down because you've had a head injury and you stay down you off the pitch mate that that's the only way to S it so you still you get a substitution but you get a blue card or whatever a green card or whatever um and they should have to go off the pitch and have a head injury assessment and they should be off the pitch for at least 20 minutes yeah and then that what and that's what they've started introducing in the NRL and they've started to stamp it out so I don't know why we are doing it it's it's blatantly obvious that this is something that needs to happen and if this if they did that we'd have less players staying down and therefore we'd have less stoppages in the game where the video referee is looking at a half challenge I think well to be fair the the the guy that Paul Vaughn nudged with his shoulder did go off to for a head check but um yeah something needs to be done there I don't think K did on the Fenton Rogers one though no no um okay Conclusion and Call for Opinions as always what's your view on this this is a massive talking point of rubber League um couple of things that I just want to put to you first of all the actual incident then this idea of players staying down two separate individual talking points then third I'd like to know you your take on S Burgers comments to the press and um and see what you think about that let's get a conversation going because this is a massive talking point R believe right now