The NRL will not jump to follow the AFL’s lead in tightening its concussion protocols for the 2021 season amid heightened concern over head trauma and the welfare of athletes who play contact sport.
The AFL on Thursday confirmed it will impose a mandatory 12-day stand-down period for any of its men’s or women’s players who have suffered a concussion.
But, despite growing pressure on sports administrators to act, the NRL has refused to follow suit for now, expressing concern over the potential for players or coaches to cover up any head injuries in a bid not to be forced to miss any action.
Andrew Abdo, the NRL’s chief executive, said the path the AFL had chosen to go down posed some risk, and the league would not rush to follow suit at this point.
“I can’t say that there will definitely be a mandatory period,” Abdo said. “That in itself has some risk attached to it around the behaviours and choices individuals might make.
“We don’t want to be in a situation where players or coaches are making decisions based on whether or not a player is going to miss matches. We will not want to have that as a potential deterrent to any system.
“We need to carefully think through what our policy is to make sure our policy is to make sure there is not unintended consequences.”
Last year’s NRL season was tainted by a number of concussions and the responses to them.
Most notably, NSW State of Origin captain Boyd Cordner was allowed to return to the field of play after suffering a substantial knock to the head, prompting the NRL to issue the NSWRL with a warning.
Cordner later ruled himself out of the rest of the series, and he stands to remain sidelined for a substantial part of the new season.
AFL and AFLW players face missing a minimum of one match if they suffer a concussion this season after links between long-term brain damage and contact sport continue to be established.
The AFL acted after it was revealed Shane Tuck, the late former Richmond player, had a severe case of a degenerative brain disease, chronic traumatic encephalopathy. CTE was also found after the deaths of former players Polly Farmer and Danny Frawley.
The NRL will await more expert health advice before making any concrete decision on its concussion protocols going forward.
“We are absolutely going to look at the best possible practice as to how concussion is treated and make sure that everything we are doing is in the interest of player safety and welfare,” Abdo said.
“We are going to get the best help that we can from the experts and any changes will be presented to the [ARL] Commission for their views and their consideration ahead of the season.
“But it won’t be anything in the next couple of days. We are quite a few weeks away from that.”
