A players' poll by the National Rugby League's website was published with "some key questions relating to concussion redacted after a decision to have the controversial content removed," according to Christian Nicolussi of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. More than half the players who took part in the poll reportedly believed NRL clubs were "abusing concussion rules by taking advantage of free interchanges while players underwent head injury assessments." However, the results "will not be published." Several questions raised flags with the NRL and the Rugby League Players' Association, "principally one about clubs' use of free interchanges while players were having concussion tests." The governing body's website, NRL.com, published its first installment of the poll results on Thursday. There were 117 players polled on the eve of the first match of this year's State of Origin series on a range of topics. It is understood the poll was "at risk of being dumped" until NRL.com, which is run independently of the NRL, decided to leave out the results to the concussion questions. An RLPA spokesperson said that it was "disappointed with the wording of some of the questions" (SMH, 8/3).
