NRL defends independent doctors, hits back at claims from leading coaches

The NRL has come under attack for its safety-first approach to head injuries, hitting back at club coaches and vowing to not back down.

Graham Annesley spent Monday explaining the merits of having an independent doctor to monitor head injuries. Picture: AAP / James Gourley

Graham Annesley has declared “there is no alternative” to the NRL’s safety-first approach to head injuries after several coaches said it was time to get rid of independent doctors and give power back to the clubs to diagnose players.

The NRL has made no apologies for how it deals with brain safety, with an independent doctor in the bunker there to augment club doctors who may have missed something during the run of play.

Tevita Tatola was ruled out of Saturday’s game against the Sharks after a sickening collision. Picture: Mark Kolbe / Getty Images

As Annesley pointed out, 14 of the 19 head injury assessments in Round 1 were initiated by club doctors, with the other five issued by the person in the bunker who spotted something from the additional camera angles at their disposal.

The most debated HIA came on Friday night when Kalyn Ponga was forced from the field late in the game when the Knights were on the attack, with the skipper adamant he was fine after colliding with Addin Fonua-Blake.

It was one of several calls which upset players, fans and coaches, but Annesley – the executive general manager of elite football at the NRL – was happy with what he saw.

“I’m comfortable with the way everything was handled over the course of the weekend,” he said.

“Every HIA every week is reviewed in great detail by the NRL chief medical officer on a Monday.

Kalyn Ponga was confused as to why he was taken from the field on Friday night after the independent doctor spotted some warning signs. Picture: NRL Photos

“All 19 HIAs – whether they were controversial or they weren’t – were all reviewed in great detail. I’m not going to second guess the judgement of a doctor when it comes to the health and safety of a player.

“Do they err on the side of being conservative? Well, maybe so.

“But wouldn’t we all rather they erred on the side of being conservative when it comes to the health of a player, rather than erring on the side of being too liberal in how they apply their judgement, and a player stays on the field and gets another knock – a more serious knock – that compounds the injury in the first place?

“That can have long-term implications for that player. We’ve seen too many players retire prematurely because of injuries.

“No one does this to be a narc or to take a team’s best player off the field. We’re just trying to ensure that players are safe.”

Annesley spent Monday’s briefing detailing the differences between category one and a category two symptoms, with the former resulting in a player automatically being ruled out of the game by the independent doctor.

Ponga fell into the second category, as did Canterbury’s Jacob Kiraz who was taken from the field in the first half and returned after the break after being assessed by the club’s medical staff.

Kiraz said on Monday that he was frustrated he had to come off, but understood the NRL was trying to protect the players.

Annesley had fresh angles of the Kiraz incident which showed him stumble as he returned to the wing – one of the indicators the independent doctor looks for.

Jacob Kiraz was upset he was taken from the field, but camera angles not seen in the broadcast showed why the independent doctor decided to have him checked out. Picture: Cameron Spencer / Getty Images

“Everyone is looking for consistency in everything we do, but these are qualified medical people making judgements based on indicators they see with their vast experience about how people react to certain types of incidents and making those calls,” he said.

“It’s all in the best interests of players.

“I’m the first to admit and understand without any question that there is no good time for this to happen.

“There are some times when it’s a worse time to happen in certain games where it might be late in the game and the game’s close and you lose a player to a HIA.

“There’s no convenient time for that to happen, but we can’t have doctors making decisions based on the status of the game. They have to make a decision based on what they see and what action they think is required.”

The role of the independent doctor has been in the spotlight all week with Raiders coach Ricky Stuart accusing the NRL and RLPA of not trusting coaches to properly diagnose signs of concussion.

Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett went even further, saying clubs should be held more accountable and that it was time to get rid of the independent doctor.

But Annesley hit back, claiming the old system was one of the reasons the independent doctor was brought in.

Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett wants the clubs to be accountable rather than have an independent doctor in the bunker. Picture: Patrick Woods

“It used to be left with the clubs, and the clubs were screaming for us to introduce independent doctors,” he said.

“The primary reason they were calling for us to introduce independent doctors is that clubs don’t trust each other.

“There are all sorts of claims that ‘they were rorting the system’ or ‘they took that player off and it was a rort because he didn’t need to come off with a head injury’. Whether the claims were accurate or not, this is what clubs think.”