Boyd Cordner’s testing part of NSW response

The testing that Boyd Cordner was forced to undergo on the field and in the dressing rooms form part of the NSW Rugby League evidence.

Boyd Cordner leaves with a head knock during game one of the State of Origin series. Picture: Brett Costello

A series of memory drills involving random words and number sequences — performed by Boyd Cordner on the field and in the sanctity of dressing rooms at Adelaide Oval — have formed the cornerstone of the NSW Rugby League’s response to questions over their handling of the Blues skipper.

Blues officials have also reached out to Cordner to ask whether he has any interest in attending the second State of Origin game at ANZ Stadium on Wednesday night as a spectator. In the meantime, they have provided the NRL with a report into their handling of the head knock he suffered in the opening game of the Origin series last week.

Cordner left the field for a head injury assessment after copping the elbow and hip of Queensland forward Felise Kaufusi. He returned to the action to the shock of many, prompting the NRL to seek a please explain from the NSWRL and Blues medical staff given the backlash that followed and sensitivity around the issue of concussion.

Cordner opted to leave Origin camp and rest for the remainder of the series after speaking to Blues officials and taking advice from the Sydney Roosters — he has suffered a series of head knocks this season that at one point led to his club side standing him down for more than a month.

NSW doctor Nathan Gibbs, one of the respected sports medicos in Australian sport, put together a report for the NRL on Monday where he provided evidence of the memory testing that Cordner was forced to undergo before he was allowed to return to the action.

It is understood Cordner was immediately asked on the field where the game was being played and which half was being played. He passed that test with flying colours. He then left the field with Gibbs and returned to the dressing sheds where he was asked to take part in a series of memory tests involving lists of five and 10 words, as well as a series of number drills that required him to repeat the sequence in reverse order.

He was also been asked to repeat the months of the year in reverse order. Having undergone those memory tests and breezed through them, it is believed Cordner then underwent a balance examination where he was asked to perform double and single-leg stance.

Gibbs confirmed the test results were included in the report, which was expected to be furnished to the NRL on Monday night. Cordner is already out of the Origin series and the greater concern now rests with his long-term future.

There has been talk that Cordner could be asked to sit out the opening six months next year, or alternatively the entire season. Others have suggested he needs to take a serious look at his playing future and give thought to potential retirement given the spate of head knocks he has suffered the seemingly innocuous way he responded to the contact with Kaufusi last week.

There is no great sense of urgency. Cordner is not due to return to training until the new year and the 2021 season doesn’t start for another four months. No doubt, some soul searching will be done in coming months.

“Nathan is preparing it,” NSW Rugby League chief executive David Trodden said.

“It is basically a response to the protocols that Nathan followed and the trainer followed in coming to the conclusion they came to. They had to follow certain protocols to assist their diagnosis. Secondly, the diagnosis is because he followed those protocols.

“When you do those things there are certain forms you have to complete about the concussion analysis. We have one of the best, if not the best, and most experienced sports physicians in the game.

“As you always do you employ the best people and put your trust in the best people. I have no reason to doubt anything Nathan has ever done and no reason to doubt him this time.

“The NRL by asking the question about what we did are only asking what any responsible governing body would do. I don’t see that by asking the question they are doing anything other than what you would expect them to do.

“There are no raised eyebrows from out point of view.”