Three National Rugby League clubs "were hit with record fines" totaling A$350,000 ($270,760) on Monday for "breaching the league's concussion protocols in matches over the weekend," according to Nick Mulvenney of REUTERS. The Gold Coast Titans were fined A$150,000 ($116,040) for incidents involving three players, while the St. George Illawarra Dragons and Newcastle Knights received fines of A$100,000 ($77,360) for single cases. NRL CEO Todd Greenberg said, "These are, by far, the heaviest fines ever proposed by the game for concussion breaches. That is how seriously we take it ... our message is clear ... we are not going to allow player safety to be put at risk through breaches of the concussion rules." The NRL changed its rules in '15 to "oblige players to undergo a formal head injury assessment if they were suspected of having a concussion." Newcastle is being sued by former player James McManus over the way the club "handled head knocks he received in his four years" there, and was also fined for its treatment, or lack thereof, of Brendan Elliot. Elliot laid on the ground for "several minutes after receiving a blow to the head" over the weekend. The fullback "did not undergo a head assessment and played on, only to be withdrawn in the second half when he went down again." Greenberg: "In the majority of cases we see strong compliance with the League's concussion rules, but ... we cannot stand by and allow player safety to be put at risk" (REUTERS, 3/20). The BBC reported Greenberg also "warned that further sanctions such as points deductions and the loss of accreditation for officials could follow monetary fines for any club that breaks the rules" (BBC, 3/20).
VR HELP: The BBC's Laura May McMullan reported a virtual reality headset "could help football club doctors diagnose concussion more accurately, researchers have claimed." Michael Grey, who is trialing the technology, said that the £500 ($618) Oculus Rift system can "quickly" help medics detect "subtle changes" in players. Grey said that VR technology helps to "establish whether a player is concussed by testing their ability to balance at the same time as following instructions." Grey: "With our virtual reality balance test, we're having the brain do one thing and then challenge it by tilting the room and it's only by doing this we see subtle changes that might not show up in a standard neurocognitive test" (BBC, 3/20).
