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Can you believe it, 18 sin bins in one round?! Play being stopped numerous times, often a whole set after the incident occurred, just to put a player on report, or in the bin, disrupting the flow of play numerous times? That is the price of preserving the playing futures of the athletes in the National Rugby League.
All football codes (even the round ball one) include contact with the head from a young age. Take the tragic case of Will Pucovski, who recently retired from all cricket, because of 11 concussions suffered over the course of his footy and cricketing career. Or the case of Boyd Cordner, who retired before his time, because of five concussions, all suffered in the NRL. You see, head knocks are no laughing matter.
CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) is a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated blows to the head. In other words, a person’s thinking, mood and behaviour can be seriously impacted later in life because of repeated head blows.
A recent study from the United States showed CTE in 345 of 376 recently deceased National Football League (NFL) players who donated their brains to science. Even living NFL greats like Brett Favre and Antonio Brown report suffering CTE symptoms, some of which began when they were in their 30s.
Head injuries are no joke. Concussion symptoms can often last for weeks, and some players, including the likes of Steve Smith, have reported how difficult it can be to regain your prior form and confidence after a concussion. Reece Walsh has never been the same since being illegally flattened by Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii in Origin I last year. Kalyn Ponga admitted not being ready “mentally and physically” to play at the State of Origin level until last year.
The NRL is right to crack down on headshots, but it is the application of that crackdown that must be improved. Take the weekend, for example. Brock Gray of the Gold Coast Titans was sent to the sin bin for a forearm to the head of Tom Dearden (who bounced right back up again). It was forceful contact to the head that deserved at least a penalty if not a sin bin.
On the other side, Matt Burton can consider himself fortunate to have escaped ten in the bin with his hit on Billy Walters. If Brock Gray gets ten for a reasonably innocuous (if forceful) hit, why was Burton not given ten? Or Sitili Tupouniua for a knee to the head of Brendan Piakura? How come Isaah Yeo stays on the field for a forceful high shot on Tom Trbojevic, yet Siosiua Taukeiaho is sin-binned for a relatively minor tackle?
Once again, the thought is correct – crack down on head shots when they occur – but the consistency is not there yet.
Critics argue that the disruptions and belated calls a set or so after the impact affect the game’s viewing, and certainly my own viewing experience has been impacted this season, particularly with play stopping very frequently. In fact, in some cases, it has almost nullified the six-again rule with the ball not being in play as long as it has been in previous years. But what is the price for eradicating deliberate, forceful head knocks?
Certainly, the NRL needs to look at accidental head knocks and players tackling the legs of another player causing them to be inadvertently contacted in the head by another player who had no intention of doing so, but by and large, those can be managed as exceptions rather than the rules.
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Once the deliberate targeting of the head is consistently outlawed, players will have to change their tackling techniques to protect a player’s head. They will have to if they wish to continue playing. There will always be accidents. Those cannot be helped in a game as fast-paced and as brutal as rugby league, but players must be held accountable for their actions, and it will only be through consistency in calls that the NRL will achieve its purpose.
Let’s hope that the game becomes safer for the players and the incidence of concussion, and ultimately CTE, becomes far less prevalent.
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