The NRL has been secretly working on a “medical bunker” to be operational from the beginning of the 2019 season.
A small number of “spotters” will be located in the NRL’s existing bunker at Australian Technology Park, Everleigh, to identify cases of concussion potentially missed by the club doctors and trainers at NRL games.
“Both in terms of monitoring cases and accuracy, the bunker was dramatically better”: Brian Canavan.
A nine-week trial of the medical bunker by the NRL has already identified cases of players demonstrating signs of concussion, and their clubs have been approached after the game to address the issues.
However, when the medical bunker becomes operational next season, cases of concussion will be communicated directly to the club doctor during game time.
NRL head of football Brian Canavan said: “We prefer to call it a ‘support tool’, rather than a bunker because the club doctor is the main decision-maker in the process.
“Our trial involved medical practitioners, former players and experienced sports trainers and we had simultaneous reviews taking place. We had monitoring taking place in the bunker and at the ground. In our final review, we found that the bunker came out very conclusively ahead. Both in terms of monitoring cases and accuracy, the bunker was dramatically better.”
Concussion protocol: The NRL is seeking to demonstrate it is taking its duty of care seriously.
Club doctors and trainers at an NRL game can miss cases of concussion when they are treating another player.
The spotters will be drawn from the ranks of former players or those in the medical and sports training industries.
Two of America’s biggest sporting codes, the NFL and NHL, employ similar medical bunkers.
With concussion and associated litigation a massive challenge to many contact sports, the NRL clearly seeks to demonstrate it is serious about its duty of care to players. It has already changed its rules, insisting club doctors report cases of concussion to the NRL club chief executive and board, rather than coaches.
The NRL has resisted a proposal to centralise all assessment of concussion cases in the Everleigh bunker, thereby standardising the assessment process. The feeling is club doctors know their players better than any other medico, many of the concussion tests require subjective face-to-face examination and, in any case, no medical practitioner is likely to succumb to the demands of a coach to allow a seriously concussed player back on the field.
The NRL’s nine-week trial has involved adding additional cameras on remote control at venues to identify cases of players demonstrating symptoms of concussion.
The Everleigh bunker is equipped with 57 monitors and 20 high-definition video feeds, connecting it, via 29 kilometres of cable, to NRL stadiums.
“Once we fine-tune the communication system between bunker and club doctor at the ground where a game is played, the medical support tool will be ready for kick-off next season,” Canavan said.
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