NRL concussion: Ian Roberts calls for massive fines for players guilty of severe high tackles

Former rugby league hardman Ian Roberts has proposed huge fines worth up to $100,000 for players who inflict severe brain trauma on rivals through high tackles.

A former rugby league star who sustained multiple concussions has proposed fines of up to $100,000 for players who inflict severe brain trauma on rivals through high tackles.

Ian Roberts, the former Souths, Manly, Cowboys, NSW and Australian forward, said current players must realise concussion is a “serious f…ing issue”.

“I’ve been thinking about how they can cut that shit out of the game,” said Roberts, who was once one of rugby league’s toughest forwards. “How do they make guys sit up and pay attention, because this is dangerous.”

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Roberts, 55, said players who committed ugly high tackles had to be suspended – and then heavily fined.

Those fines, Roberts said, should be based on the severity of the tackle and tied to a percentage of each player’s contract — either 5, 7.5 or 10 per cent. That means players could be fined anywhere between $5000 for the lowly paid and $100,000 for $1-million-a-season stars.

Ian Roberts has called for players to be hit with heavy fines for ugly high shots. Picture: Tim Hunter

Roberts said he was taken from the field heavily concussed between six to 10 times during his 242 games between 1986 and 1998.

“For guys to realise this is a really serious f…ing issue, they have to be big fines,” Roberts said. “I’m not talking $2000, $3000 or $4000.

“I’m talking $30,000, $40,000, $50,000 fines. It would be percentage based across the board but could be up to $100,000, depending on your contract. I’m serious about this. Suspending guys for four to six weeks for high shots, it’s not going to change much.

“This has to be significant so it will have an impact on players and they realise there are consequences for any head trauma. Regardless of where you sit in the hierarchy of player personnel, the consequences have to be equally severe.

“The only way is to hit them in the pocket. I know what I’m saying sounds over the top but if a player commits a dangerous high shot then the penalty should be a suspension plus 5, 7.5 or 10 per cent of his salary. Guys will then take notice.

“We need to try something else because there are still guys getting concussed. It’s still happening and this is serious stuff, it’s life changing.

“There have to be consequences. I’m not talking about accidental or unavoidable contact – I’m talking about severe contact.

“The hip pocket ... that is what drives some blokes to play the sport. And all the money raised goes into a collective pool for insurance for ex-players.

“I know people will laugh at this but there is so much science around us now. There is an awareness globally about all professional contact sports. There are now real life consequences.”

Ian Roberts said he was heavily concussed between six to 10 times during his career.

When told of Roberts’ suggestion, NRL head of football Graham Annesley said: “The commission and management are committed to eliminating contact with the head and neck as much as possible when playing our game.

“The current approach through strong action by referees and the judiciary is definitely having an impact in reducing the number and seriousness of incidents.

“But there may well be additional proposals worthy of consideration so over the coming months we will continue to consult widely, seek the best available medical advice, and work with all stakeholders including players and the RLPA to examine any ideas that could have merit in improving player safety”.

Roberts watched on this week as Roosters skipper Boyd Cordner retired from repeated concussions while Cronulla’s Wade Graham stood down from playing through multiple head knocks.

He also read an exclusive Daily Telegraph story detailing former NRL player Brett Horsnell’s sad battle after football.

Asked about the NRL’s high-shot crackdown, Roberts said: “I absolutely support it. Players have to be mindful that they are responsible for the health of other players.

“Yes, it’s a contact sport but there has to be more awareness about this. This isn’t about winning. At the end of the day, you don’t want someone leaving the field with potential brain damage and consequences that could last a lifetime.

“We can’t just put it down to former players being ‘punch drunk – he was a tough player who took too many hits around the head’. If I knew then what I know now, there’s no way I would have done what I did when I was playing.”

Roberts said he would often see “stars and dots” after pulling off a crushing tackle.

“We use the term ‘mild concussion’ but there’s no such thing as a mild concussion,” Roberts said. “I used to see these dots and stars before my eyes but you kept playing.

“Every time I used to do a big hit I used to get a mild concussion – those little dots would rain down before my eyes.

“How many times was I carried off, helped off or stretched off – in between half a dozen and 10 times. It sounds a bit vain but the stars and dots were a way of knowing you’d pulled off a big hit.

“You were hit in the head with a wet sponge (by the trainer) back when I was playing and asked whether you were alright? ‘Yeah, f…, I suppose’. Well, you were good to go then.”

Roosters skipper Boyd Cordner retired from the NRL this week after multiple concussions. Picture: Getty Images

DREAM KNOCKED ON ITS HEAD

Concussion killed Ian Roberts’ Hollywood dream.

The former rugby league hard man gave up a seven-year acting career because of increasing concerns over brain trauma sustained during a 242-game footy career with Manly, Souths, North Queensland, NSW and Australia.

During 2013, a “terrified’’ Roberts twice lost time – his life kept moving but his memory had shut down.

Roberts was driving home from a gym along Santa Monica Boulevard when he blacked out.

“And the next thing I knew I was at home in Hollywood,” Roberts, now 55, said.

“I was driving and the next thing I was home. I don’t know how I got there. I missed about half an hour of time. It’s a short memory thing.

“The only way I can describe it would be to shut your eyes now at 4pm and then suddenly you’re in front of the television watching the 6pm news.

“You’d think ‘hang on, what just happened.’ I was safe, nothing had happened, I hadn’t done anything silly or crazy, but I lost about half an hour. I had obviously gone about my business. I spoke to my doctors about it.

“I had blacked out, lost time. I shit myself the first time and then it happened again about two weeks later. And the second time terrified me.”

Ian Roberts headed to LA in 2006 to follow his acting dream.

Roberts was cutting up a roast chicken at home.

The next thing he knew he was in bed and wet from a shower he didn’t recall having.

“I lost about half an hour again,” he said.

“It’s like blacking out and then ‘coming to’ but we’re not actually blacking out.”

Then he started fluffing his lines at auditions.

“The thing that made me concerned in LA, when I got into acting, I was always really good at auditioning,” Roberts said.

“It wasn’t an issue for me to get my lines down within a day or two before an audition.

“But I did notice when I was over there that I wasn’t going into my auditions as confident. I was dropping lines. It was something I noticed over a period of time.

“It’s OK to drop a line because they have a reader opposite you but I never used to worry about it. It started playing on my sense of confidence. I’d be saying those lines each day for months and then totally lose pages.”

Roberts said his health fears, along with his father not being well, were the reasons he moved back to Australia.

“I have been forgetting words and sentences over the last five years. I will be talking and will think: ‘I can’t think of that word’,” Roberts said.

Ian Roberts suffered multiple concussions during his rugby league career.

“It happens to me all the time but I do cognitive training. And I will say the more you read and the more you use your brain, I have found that has helped me.

“Those incidents terrified me so when I came home to Australia I got a whole lot of testing done at La Trobe University in Melbourne and also up in Newcastle.”

The results were confronting – he had partial brain damage.

“Every time you get concussion – most people don’t know this – it’s brain damage, that’s why I stopped calling it concussion,” Roberts said. “Each time I do an interview I call it brain damage, it’s a form of brain damage.

“All those old terminologies we used to use, like mild concussion, that’s just a soft, gentle way of saying brain damage.”

Asked whether the head trauma was definitely football-related, Roberts said: “Absolutely, mate. But the positive thing for me is at least I’m aware there is something going on. I’m about training myself and resourcing services that might be able to help.”

Originally published as NRL concussion: Ian Roberts calls for massive fines for players guilty of severe high tackles