Rugby league players as young as 15 are set to be monitored by "Concussion Officials" this year as the code again "looks to significantly beef up its treatment of head injuries," according to Nick Walshaw of the Sydney DAILY TELEGRAPH. The NSW Rugby League "is appointing an independent supervisor to every game under its jurisdiction in 2015 -- including Harold Matthews and SG Ball." It comes as the National Rugby League, for the first time in its history, this week "released figures revealing 67 diagnosed cases of concussion from last season, with 155 players taken from the field for sideline assessment." In coming months, the three senior competitions controlled by the organization -- NSW Cup, Ron Massey Cup and Sydney Shield -- "will also have certified concussion officials working the sidelines at every game." Quizzed on the changes, NSWRL GM of Football Barrie-Jon
Mather said, "Concussion is a major issue and we need to treat it as
such." Mather said that, with five separate competitions to cover, the NSWRL "was not able to provide independent doctors as consultants for every game." Instead, it "will also train referees and volunteers, preferably those with some form of medical qualification/training, to enforce the league’s new hard line concussion rules" (DAILY TELEGRAPH, 2/20).
