The lawyer overseeing the legal challenge made by a former group of rugby league players against the Rugby Football League says he hopes the issue can lead to a genuine change in the way the sport approaches brain trauma.
Former Great Britain half-back Bobbie Goulding is among a test group of ten players that are challenging the RFL over their negligence to properly protect players from the neurological risks associated with playing the game.
Richard Boardman of Rylands Legal, the man who is helping the players with their case, insists that there are two main objectives from the challenge: to help support the players that have also been directly impacted while also changing rugby league's approach for the better.
"This isn't going anywhere any time soon as an issue," he told Rugby League Live.
"Our primary focus is on the retired players we represent. We have no real skin in the game in terms of how sports regulate themselves and that's not our concern. But what we're hoping is that as a secondary objective, sports do change and some litigation is introduced."
Boardman cited the current rest period a player must go through after a concussion or head trauma as one potential area of improvement.
"Many experts believe that return to play period of six days is too short and there's an argument to copy the NFL too when it comes to limiting contact in training. Guys go into the game knowing they may break bones and tear ligaments but when it comes to the brain, there really has to be that heightened duty of care. Guys don't sign up for brain damage."
Boardman also warned that it is not just former players who are being impacted by neurological issues: saying there are modern-day players active in the game now who are still at just as much risk.
"There is a systematic failure across contact sports to adequately look after brain damage," he said.
"There are a lot of young guys like Sam Burgess, Stevie Ward and Rob Burrow who are speaking openly about this, so it's happening right now. It is our experts' view that this is still very much a live issue.
"A study from the Drake Foundation found that 23 per cent of elite rugby players tested had brain damage, and the mean age was 25 years old. That's around one quarter of the guys currently playing now. This legal issue is about the previous generations and getting justice for them, but they want to help change the game for current and future generations too."
