Wake-up call: We must save our stars

Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player.

THE NRL's head doctor has warned rugby league has a responsibility "to protect players from themselves" - and the whole concept of contact sport "has to change".

In the early 1980s, Ron Muratore was the doctor responsible for getting rid of the "magic sponge in a bucket of water" as the preferred method of treating injured players.

Now he has called on everyone in the game to unite as the concussion debate explodes in potential lawsuits in contact sports across the globe.

Sonny Bill Williams will miss the Roosters' next three NRL games after pleading guilty to a shoulder charge.

The veteran league doctor predicted "it is only a matter of time" before the NRL is forced to confront its own legal fight similar to what is happening in the US.

More than 4500 former NFL players are currently locked in a $765 million class action over concussion-related brain injuries.

Former rugby league hardman Ian Roberts is the latest retired star to claim that he suffered brain damage as a result of concussion injuries.

Asked if he feared a future lawsuit in rugby league, Muratore told The Daily Telegraph: "With lawyers involved I think it is only a matter of time. There has got to be some legal thing I am sure.

Todd Lowrie goes off. pic Mark Evans Source: News Corp Australia

"But we have also got to remember that we treated people according to the information that was available at the time.

"And our game is completely ­different to NFL.

"They actually crash into each other on purpose. We don't do that."

The NRL this year introduced a world-leading game-day concussion test that could potentially save the game from bankruptcy.

The 15-minute SCAT3 test, which is also endorsed by the International Olympic Committee, FIFA and the International Rugby Board, came into play in the NRL last weekend when a record 12 players were taken from the field to be assessed for concussion.

Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player.

The four-page test asks a wide-ranging series of questions covering everything from balance and disorientation memory questions such as day of the month it is.

"On the weekend I got 12 reports. We have never had to have reports before," Muratore said.

"Out of the 12, from my memory, I think six or seven didn't go back and at one club (Newcastle) there were two who didn't go back.

"People are doing what is supposed to be done, not that they haven't done what was supposed to be done before."

Asked if he also feared for the future of contact sport, Muratore said: "I think contact sport has to change.

Tyrone Roberts of the Knights is taken off the field after a heavy knock. Source: Getty Images

"I don't know if I fear for the future of it but things have to change. We have to be ultra conservative. And I think we have to be ultra conservative with kids.

"We have to protect players from themselves. When you look at the shoulder charge for example, lots of players will say 'this is stupid, we are making it a soft game'. I don't think we are making it a soft game. I think we have to make it so we can protect them as much as we can."

While Muratore admits there is always a danger of suffering concussion in any contact sport, similar dangers exist in any school yard.

"Some of the worst concussions I have seen has been little kids falling in the playground," he said.

"No one mentions that. And you are not going to stop letting kids play.

"Concussion can happen anywhere, we just have to manage it properly."

Muratore watched Roberts' interview on the Channel Seven Sunday Night program and admits he was upset at the league legend's plight.

"He was a hard man," he said.

Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player.

"I felt really sorry for (Roberts) but in those days you were a wuss if you came off.

"We have a whole culture we have to change. We have to teach people you are not a wuss. If you have got to come off you have to come off. That is going to take a little time."

There has also been some criticism that the NRL is allowing club doctors and trainers to monitor the new SCAT3 concussion test and not using independent doctors.

But Muratore argued: "There just aren't enough doctors going around. There has also been a trial in the States I think and there was a short trial in rugby where the independent doctor got it wrong more often than the guy who knew the player.

"I am very happy with the way things are working at the moment.

"It is early days yet but I don't think we will go backwards, we will go forward from here. We have to make sure we look after these people."

Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

Wake-up call: We must save our stars

Dengan url

http://sportlivestyle.blogspot.com/2014/03/wake-up-call-we-must-save-our-stars.html

Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya

Wake-up call: We must save our stars

namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link

Wake-up call: We must save our stars

sebagai sumbernya