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The strength of the NRL’s concussion policy has been questioned after South skipper Cameron Murray backed himself to face the Roosters in an elimination final on Sunday.
Murray was knocked out after trying to tackle Kevin Naiqama in the opening minute of his side’s clash against the Roosters last Friday night.
It’s the third time inside 12 months the superstar lock has been concussed in his first tackle of a game, but he’s expected to play this weekend.
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“In the period following a concussion, a player should not be allowed to return to play or train until they have had a formal medical clearance using the NRL head injury recognition and referral form by a doctor,” it says on the NRL website.
Murray suffered a mild headache on Saturday but passed tests at the club on Sunday and had no symptoms on Monday.
The 24-year-old will next see an independent specialist and could return to contact training as early Thursday.
“I’m feeling good and the lucky thing is it’s a long turnaround this week so I’ve got a little bit of time to myself and my health in check. I feel good today so hopefully symptom free today and I start the process tomorrow,” Murray said on Monday.
NRL 360 host Braith Anasta said he feared the Rabbitohs’ season was over following the tackle.
“When Murray went down there was an instant concern no just for the Bunnies that night but (for their season) because for me, Murray starts their attack,” Anasta said.
“So when he went down I thought they were gone and they pretty much were. First of all, let’s address this, do you think he’s right to play?”
A brief silence hung over the NRL 360 panel of Paul Kent, Phil Rothfield and James Hooper before the former answered.
“It was a nasty concussion Braith, look we said the same thing about Victor Radley last week, there’s protocols to go through and they’ll be put through the protocols and if he passes he’ll play,” Kent said.
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That prompted Anasta to say “he’s always passing it” before Rothfield rebutted.
“Well hold on, I trust the medical experts. A guy called professor Chris Levi will examine Cameron Murray and I presume he will be passed fit. But I don’t think there’s anything dodgy going on, I really don’t,” Rothfield said.
“No, I don’t think so Buzz. I was just very confident that he’d be playing this week, put it that way.”
Kent then quired whether the bigger question was whether the NRL was doing enough to protect its players from head knocks.
“The question isn’t whether there’s something dodgy going on, it’s whether the protocols that are in place are enough,” he said.
“Concussions in the game, it’s my belief just from having watched the game for 40 years is that we’re seeing more concussions now than ever before, but the counterargument to that is are we just more conscious of it given the HIAs and all the rest of it.
“But I think the change in tackling style is bringing more concussions into the game and at some point the game has got to start saying to itself is this the track we’re going to keep going down because these concussion protocols are going to become more severe the more we talk about brain injury.”
But Rothfield said there was more to the argument.
“You’re comparing it to the old days. The athlete today in rugby league is bigger, faster, stronger, more powerful than previous days,” Rothfield said.
“John O’Neill used to weigh 95kgs, biggest prop in the game and they’re now 120-odd kilos so that collision, that bang they have is going to cause more concussion, that’s why we’ve got it.”
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