Phil Gould slammed by Peter V’landys over concussion, independent doctor calls

ARLC supremo Peter V’landys has delivered Phil Gould a cold, hard reality check following the Bulldogs boss’s independent doctor criticism.

ARLC boss Peter V'landys. Picture: Jonathan Ng

ARL Commission chair Peter V’landys has declared the independent doctor is here to stay and hit back at criticism from Canterbury head of football Phil Gould over the NRL’s handling of concussion, insisting that head office will be guided by the experts not emotion.

V’landys and NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo have been under fire from several coaches and commentators after an opening round when the independent doctor’s influence on the game was more pronounced than ever.

V’landys told News Corp on Thursday morning that rather than reeling back the use of technology, the game was investigating whether to expand its use as it moves towards introducing a mandatory stand-down period for head knocks.

“Is the independent doctor here to stay? Absolutely,” V’landys said.

“We will take no shortcuts with player welfare, we will use all the technology available to us including an independent doctor with a number of TV screens that can see every angle.

“When they work in partnership with the club doctor, you have the optimum situation. We signalled our intention that we would protect the players’ head and we are going to continue that journey of protection with more things rather than less.

“We won’t be at all swayed by anyone with a view that is not medical.”

ARLC boss Peter V'landys. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Canberra coach Ricky Stuart, seven-time premiership winner Wayne Bennett and Canterbury coach Cameron Ciraldo were among the high-profile coaches who were critical of the current system.

However, the most incendiary comments were made by Gould during an appearance on the Nine Network on Monday night. Gould called the independent doctor the greatest abomination in the game’s history and slammed the way the game had handled what he called “concussion hysteria”.

That drew a defiant response from Abdo.

“We had 19 head injury events this last round - 14 identified by the club doctor and five by the independent doctor,” Abdo said.

“They work as a team. Often what happens is the symptoms of a potential head injury occur a few seconds after the ball and everyone is following the ball, but the independent doctor is able to track much wider exposure on the player.

“It is a really good system and we won’t be taking a backward step.”

V’landys conceded he and Gould were poles apart when it came to the issue of concussion.

“There is no secret that Gus and I have a significantly different viewpoint on this,” V’landys said.

“I didn’t see - with due respect to Gus - that he is a neurologist. He is a commentator and he is entitled to his views but we will take the views of the experts - of the medical and scientific evidence.

“That’s the view we take. We take fact-based information and act on fact-based information. We are not going to act on media commentators’ views with due respect.

Phil Gould. Picture: Damian Shaw

“As custodians of the game, we take player welfare probably the most serious of any issue. We are spending lots of money and lots of research on getting the latest technology to ensure we have the best.

“We are not going to be swayed by people’s gut opinions or how they did it in 1966. We will base it on hard, cold scientific facts.”

The commission has asked its medical advisory panel to conduct a review of the current system as they edge towards a mandatory stand-down period for head knocks.

V’landys indicated the commission could be in position to make a decision within weeks on whether they would follow the ARL and World Rugby by introducing mandatory stand-down periods.

He also confirmed News Corp’s report at the weekend that the game was investigating the use of blood and saliva testing to monitor head knocks.

“We will be making some announcements,” V’landys said.

“We are looking at greater technology. A lot of sports and other people are doing cosmetic things to tick boxes. We are doing substantive things from scientific evidence and scientific facts.

“We are not going to window dress this. We are going to actually do things that have scientific proof, things like the blood test for concussion, things like the saliva test, things like other technology that will become available.

Kalyn Ponga was at the centre of the independent doctor furore. Picture: NRL

“We will look at all those things. I don’t want to pre-empt the commission decision. There are meetings with people who will make recommendations to the commission and we will act on those recommendations.

“That is imminent.”

V’landys also dismissed Gould’s assertion that the game was acting out of fear that they could face a lawsuit from disgruntled players at some point in the future.

“That’s not why we are doing it,” V’landys said.

“We are doing it to protect the player. We want the player to have quality of life once they finish football. I said that three years ago - my whole intention is to give those players once they retire a quality of life.”

Originally published as Phil Gould slammed by Peter V’landys over concussion, independent doctor calls