Australian Football League players "lost more games to concussion last year than ever before," but the rise has been attributed to "better management and improved diagnostic techniques," according to Greg Denham of THE AUSTRALIAN. The '16 injury survey revealed the average number of games lost to concussion had risen from 4.2 per club per year in '15 to 5.6 last season. The "significant increase" -- up from 1.4 games lost in '14 -- is a "reflection of the more cautious approach to concussion management," particularly on matchday, as directed by the AFL and adopted by the 18 clubs. The survey showed the "lowest number of missed games because of injury last year in more than a decade." AFL Game Development Manager Simon Lethlean said that the 25th consecutive year of the survey "had shown that clubs on average lost approximately 140 games due to injury last year." This was the "lowest tally" since the '06 season figure of 138 games (THE AUSTRALIAN, 6/7).
IN IRELAND: In Dublin, Conor Pope reported there was no "startling evidence" of brain damage revealed in a study of rugby players competing in the Leinster Senior Cup over the course of a full season, according to research carried out in Trinity College Dublin. However, the neurologist leading the as yet unpublished study "warned it does not give the sport a clean bill of health and more work needs to be done to assess the impact of contact sports in general" -- and rugby in particular -- on the brain (IRISH TIMES, 6/5).
