AUSTRALIA’S National Rugby League (NRL) today said it was overhauling its concussion rules, as contact sports across the globe face increasing pressure over head injuries.  

Any NRL player diagnosed with a concussion, whether in training or a game, will automatically be sidelined for 11 days, the Australian Rugby League Commission said.  

It comes after dozens of players from another sport, Australian Rules, launched a landmark class action seeking compensation for the debilitating impacts of repeated concussions.  

“There is no greater priority for us than player safety. It’s front and centre of everything we do,” commission chairman Peter V’landys said in a statement today.   

“Our current head-injury protocols are exceptionally strong.   

“Following a review of the data and the expert advice we have received, the commission have enhanced these protocols even further by providing a mandatory 11-day stand-down period following a diagnosed concussion.”  

Under previous rules, concussed players could not return during a game but could be cleared to play a week later.   

The league estimates that each team has between five and seven concussions a season.  

Many sports are grappling with rules around head injuries and there are a growing number of legal cases.  

In rugby union, World Rugby has recommended its unions trial “belly tackles” at the non-elite level, where the tackler engages with the ball carrier below the sternum in a bid to reduce concussions caused by head-on-head contact.  

Dozens of former rugby union players are seeking compensation for brain injuries, including England’s 2003 Rugby World Cup winner Steve Thompson and ex-Wales captain Ryan Jones. – AFP, March 15, 2023.