By Dan Walsh
Roosters five-eighth Luke Keary says the NRL’s current playing cohort will be grateful for the game’s independent doctors ruling on head injury assessments in later life as Phil Gould became the latest influential club figure to rail against HIAs being ordered from the Bunker.
Keary is one of several Roosters stars who have dealt with multiple concussion issues over the years as the club named Victor Radley and Brandon Smith to take on the Warriors on Saturday after both suffered head knocks against the Dolphins on Sunday.
Radley visibly staggered after a tackle on Jarrod Wallace went awry but was in good spirits at training on Tuesday.
His third heavy concussion in a year, which included distressing scenes of him convulsing on the ground after a mistimed tackle against Melbourne last August, had Keary predicting a stint on the sidelines for the English international.
But along with star centre Joey Manu (returning from a facial fracture), the Roosters have named Radley on the proviso he undergoes an independent review before being cleared to play.
Gould, meanwhile, joined the likes of Ricky Stuart, Wayne Bennett, Adam O’Brien and Cameron Ciraldo in voicing concerns around last year’s introduction of an independent NRL doctor to order head injury assessments after several contentious calls in round one.
Speaking on Nine’s 100% Footy on Monday night, the Bulldogs powerbroker declared the move as “the greatest abomination perpetrated on our game in history”.
Keary though is adamant the NRL’s independent doctors are necessary to protect players from themselves and have a more comprehensive view of live play, using multiple camera angles not available to club doctors at ground level or shown on TV broadcasts.
He pointed to last year’s chaotic Origin series finale when Cameron Murray, Selwyn Cobbo and Lindsay Collins all suffered head knocks that ruled them out of the game in the opening two minutes.
Bulldogs winger Jacob Kiraz was also ordered off for a HIA in round one by the Bunker based on a camera angle that did not air but showed him stumbling after a heavy tackle, before being cleared to return to play.
Luke Keary has emphatically endorsed the NRL’s use of independent doctors to rule on HIAs.Credit: NRL Imagery
“I think [independent doctors] are definitely the right direction to go,” Keary said.
“The club doctor at a game has a million things going on, right. And then you’ve got to trust that someone can spot the knock at ground level.
“You saw it in Origin, the trainers are running around, they’re not watching every tackle to see if someone’s got a head knock. They’re trying to do other jobs.
“The way the NRL’s got someone there, they’re not aligned with any club. Their job is to look out for the welfare of the player. They’re not there saying ‘let’s just take him off just in case’. That’s not their job.
“You’d rather err on the side of caution anyway. And as players, right now we maybe can’t see it. We just want to play.
“But later on, we’ll be thankful for them. Anyone who argues against that, I don’t see how.”
Keary has long been an advocate of limiting contact training during pre-season. The NRL now requires all contact sessions to be videoed and head injury ‘spotters’ deployed as the governing body collects data on potential concussions.
The information will be presented to the ARL Commission later this year with an eye to what, if any, limitations on full-contact training, as seen in the NFL, could be adopted.
Keary wore a headgear in Sunday’s “horrible” loss to the Dolphins for the first time since under 13s, acknowledging there is no conclusive evidence it can reduce incidents of concussion.
Instead, the veteran five-eighth has been wearing it all summer in wrestling and contact drills and simply feels comfortable in it.
The Roosters will be without veteran Jared Waerea-Hargreaves’ as he continues to recover from a back injury while fellow prop Matt Lodge is out for six weeks after surgery on a depressed facial fracture that left a golf ball sized divot underneath his left temple.
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