By Dan Walsh
Concussion research being conducted by the NRL could result in limits being placed on full-contact training sessions over summer in a bid to reduce avoidable head knocks.
The NRL’s medical advisory panel will present recommendations to the ARL Commission later this year on the potential introduction of pre-season training limits, with a particular focus on full-contact sessions.
The NFL has limited such practice sessions to one per week during their regular season for more than a decade.
The NCAA introduced similar limits to college football pre-seasons last year after research found nearly half the concussions sustained by players occurred during pre-season camps.
NRL CEO Andrew Abdo confirmed the game’s research and the possibility of new measures being introduced ahead of the 2023 season, while stressing that any changes would be made in consultation with clubs and the players union.
“One of the suggestions that’s being looked at is potentially controlling training in the pre-season and contact training would be a sub-set of that,” Abdo told the Herald.
Luke Thompson’s last appearance for Canterbury was in round 12 as he continues to experience concussion symptoms.Credit: Getty
“It all depends on the recommendations from our medical advisory panel, which includes our chief medical officer, Dr Sharon Flahive.
“They’re looking at what other sports do and making recommendations for the commission to consider how we might approach it for next year.
“That work has been going on throughout the year and there’s a lot of consultation we would want to have with the clubs and RLPA. It might be that some things are phased in or that some things are started straight away. It’s too early to know what the implementation would be.”
Roosters star Luke Keary believes the move will come sooner rather than later in the NRL as Newcastle’s Kalyn Ponga and Canterbury’s Luke Thompson remain sidelined indefinitely by repeated concussions suffered this season.
Keary, 30, suffered one of his early head knocks during a 2018 pre-season training session, with headaches resulting from a broken jaw sidelining him to start that season.
Keary has seen a marked improvement in the NRL’s concussion protocols since his 2013 debut and expects contact limits away from game-day to be the next evolution.
“There’s going to have to be some contact control during pre-season at some point,” he said on Sunday. “It’s what the NFL’s gone to and they’ve gone to the extreme where you can’t be in the building at a certain time. Hopefully we won’t get to that point.
“But there probably does need to be some sort of control around how many contacts are getting at an early age at training.
“There’s mouth guard technology that can measure that contact data and causation – whether a bloke’s contact is coming at training or in games, and how many they’re having.
“I think we’ll be getting a lot more of that data over the next five to 10 years and we’ll use that to be safer.
“But at the moment I think the game is doing all it can and it’s come a long way from where it was not that long ago.”
Keary’s latest head knock-related lay-off saw him sidelined for six weeks across June and July but was extended by a neck injury that caused similar concussion-like symptoms.
Contracted until the end of 2024, Keary said he had given little thought to suggestions of being forced into medical retirement like ex-teammates Boyd Cordner and Jake Friend.
Luke Keary has reported no further ill effects since returning from his latest head knock.Credit: Getty
“You let go of what you can’t control,” he said. “What can I control? I can go out and play as hard as I can and listen to the doctors. It’s the same as any other injury and you just have to listen to the experts.
“I’ve got doctors I’ve spoken to and am very comfortable with over the past four or five years, they’re the leading people in their field in Australia.
“And to be honest, they’re the only people I can listen to or trust in this situation.
“I’m not going to live my life worrying about it when I’m being told I’m ok. I’m playing the game I love and I’ll play as hard as I can until I’m ready to finish or I’m told I can’t play anymore.”
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