‘Scary moment as a parent’: Gold Coast Rugby club takes head trauma into own hands

The ‘scary moment’ a young rugby gun was left with a severe concussion has led to a big change at a community club - Now the man behind it reveals why others must follow suit.

Watching his son on the sidelines of a Toowoomba rugby field believing he was on the Sunshine Coast was, for Kurt Kinder, a truly “scary moment as a parent”.

But while the Helensvale Hogs president’s youngster has been cleared of the concussion that cruelled him of Queensland Country selection last year, it inspired the club to take huge steps in managing head trauma in the future.

MORE GOLD COAST SPORT

Transfer Centre: Champion returns, Highlander enters No.10 race

Not Done Yet: Hoep alive in luckless Titan’s comeback pursuit

‘Infectious smile’: Emotional farewell to beloved father, footy hall of famer

Known as EyeGuide, the club have purchased the equipment which will be used on player prior to the Gold Coast District Rugby Union seasonlaunch to assist with concussion management.

It will identify a base reading of eye activity prior to any impacts which will be used as a measure to determine whether instant – or prolonged – effects of concussion are present.

The equipment cost approximately $8000. But with sponsorship support from Arcare Aged Care the Hogs president said it was “well worth the investment” with player welfare taken into consideration.

Kinder recalled the moment he saw his son, Alex, after he suffered his concussion playing for the under-14 boys South Queensland side.

Alex Kinder playing for the Gold Coast Cyclones. Picture: Supplied

He said while the young playmaker was eventually cleared to return to play, it begged the question: how certain can an athlete be further damage will not be sustained?

“It was at the State Championships and he fell backwards on the ground in a tackle and his head hit the ground. The player on top fell on him so his head was squashed,” Kinder said.

“He played for probably 10 minutes and nobody had realised it had happened. He plays 10 (fly-half), and it wasn’t until some of his teammates started yelling at what are the moves and he looked at them and said he didn’t know.

“He was brought to the sidelines … we were playing in Toowoomba and he thought we were on the Sunshine Coast, so it was a scary moment as a parent.

“In my own son’s case he was quite severely concussed and we followed the Rugby Australia protocols of sitting out for 19 days of play. Yes he had all the headaches and symptoms, but by the end of the 19 days he was good.

“But there’s still that background (thought) are they really right, are they OK to play?”

Strides are being taken in the elite levels of sport to minimise the risk of sustained impacts from concussions, particularly in light of recent years of research into chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

The NRL is reportedly debating a mandatory one-game lay off for any player who suffers a concussion, while Kinder said Rugby Australia has a 19-day protocol in which an athlete must remain off the field and away from contact before then reporting no ill-effects of the ordeal.

Yet even in recent days, Sydney-based all-girls school Queenwood banned its students from playing Australian rules football citing fears of long-term brain injuries.

Joel Selwood tests out the Eyeguide brain test

For all the changes being made at the top level, Kinder said a greater emphasis on managing head trauma needed to extend to the grassroots of the game.

“Players are at risk if they’re not taking this seriously, hence why when the opportunity jumped in front of us we were on it straight away,” Kinder said.

“The first concussion is I guess a benchmark, but you have a second while you’re already concussed and that one’s most damaging.

“Longer recovery times for a start and normal concussion side effects can be exacerbate. the headaches, the nausea, the confusion, that type of thing.

“It’s something to get on the front foot with, first and foremost the player welfare is number one and it’s pretty close to me.

“But number two I think it’s clubs doing the right thing by the community as well.”