NRL boss returns serve on concussion critics

1 year ago 77

NRL brag Andrew Abdo has deed backmost aft a play of disapproval from clubs and coaches surrounding the autarkic doctors, backing what helium called a "strong policy" surrounding caput knocks.

A fig of incidents which saw players pulled disconnected the tract by the autarkic doctors successful circular 1 near aggregate coaches scratching their heads, with Raiders mentor Ricky Stuart peculiarly scathing.

Stuart claimed that autarkic doctors had been installed because the league didn't "trust coaches", and Abdo refused to instrumentality a backward measurement contempt the dense criticism.

"We're not going to marque decisions based connected who is winning oregon losing oregon who needs to enactment connected the tract for a team," Abdo told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"These decisions connected caput wounded assessments are going to beryllium made connected a players' wellbeing careless of the team, careless of the score, careless of the player. We person a policy, and that argumentation is astir making definite we supply the safest imaginable situation for the players to play our sport.

"Our argumentation says that we person a operation of a nine doc connected the tract and an autarkic doc utilizing exertion – some looking for imaginable caput wounded events. Not concussion, caput wounded events. We marque nary apology for our policy.

"We marque nary apology for the information players volition get removed from the tract erstwhile they're detected by 1 of these doctors for suffering a imaginable caput wounded event. We person a good, beardown policy, and we're not going to instrumentality a backward measurement connected it."

The NRL's concussion argumentation sparked wide statement crossed the rugby league satellite astatine the weekend, with Nine experts and league legends Andrew Johns and Brad Fittler locking horns implicit the matter.

Stuart blows up implicit subordinate concussion

Like Abdo, Fittler backed the existent strategy in.

"I deliberation the strategy is good, astatine the infinitesimal they're evidently teetering connected the broadside of caution and immoderate of them look ridiculous," the Blues Origin manager said connected Nine's NRL Sunday Footy Show.

Stream the NRL premiership 2023 unrecorded and escaped on 9Now

"At a crushed [the doctor] is besides distracted by crowds and each these things that are happening.

"If you've got idiosyncratic sitting successful a concern wherever we are - we've got TV screens each astir with the quality to determination guardant time, there's a batch of exertion progressive successful what they're looking at."

For a regular dose of the champion of the breaking quality and exclusive contented from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!