Rugby league players have declared the training field to be the next battleground with the NRL in a bid to protect brain health, after a survey found almost half of women’s players continued to train after experiencing a suspected concussion.
Brain injury research has identified not only concussions as a potential threat to long-term health, but also the repetitive non-concussive impacts that players experience every week in high-performance football environments.
This year’s RLPA’s player survey, released on Tuesday, stated training environments remain a “blind spot” for the game.
The RLPA said the game must introduce contact load assessments, use technology to monitor impacts during training, and advance research on concussion symptoms and recovery for both the men’s and women’s games.
46% of female players reported they continued to train after experiencing a suspected concussion, alongside 36% for men. 33% of women and 20% of men felt pressured into continuing to train with concussion symptoms.
“Shifting attitudes around reporting is essential to fostering a psychologically safe environment where players feel encouraged, not deterred, from prioritising their health and well-being,” the report states.
82% of NRL players feel the optimal number of contact sessions per week during the pre-season in order to feel prepared for round one is no more than two. But coaches commonly schedule four or more.
The current NRL bargaining agreement expires in 2027, but the RLPA will push for improvements to training standards before then. World Rugby and the NFL already limit contact training.
The NRL has already been prompted to look at training practices following the coroner’s report into the death of Manly front-rower Keith Titmus during a pre-season session in 2020.
Professor Alan Pearce, Adjunct Research Fellow at Swinburne University’s Neuroimaging Facility, said professional leagues are now acknowledging risks to brain health, but their responses might not always prioritise player welfare. “A lot of it is PR spin and a lot of lip service, but we’re not seeing the action required, and that at all levels as well,” he said.
The NRL is currently funding a research project backed by the RLPA and undertaken by the Australian Catholic University into training loads, but analysis of two years of data collected so far has only just begun. A three-year, part-time, $105,000 annual position was advertised this month, “to analyse large data sets pertaining to team sport training loads, competition scheduling and injury profiles”.
The AFL has pledged to look into training loads in response to a recommendation made by the inquest into the death of Shane Tuck, and has been working this year with clubs, coaches and the AFL Players Association.
In partnership with the Victorian government, the AFL last week announced a study examining the impacts of concussion experienced by AFLW players.
“Protecting past, present and future players from risks to health and safety presented by sport-related concussion and other head trauma is a key priority for the AFL,” saud AFL general counsel Stephen Meade.
“We have six people working full-time in this space, have made more than 30 changes to rules and tribunal and match review guidelines and continue to drive more research and evolve our rules and approach as we learn more.”
Pearce said player associations needed independent research in order to guarantee players’ welfare is prioritised. “If they want to do these initiatives, they really should be engaging independent researchers and independent people to do this, in allowing full confidence of what we’re seeing,” he said.
The Australian Sports Commission released guidelines for return-to-play protocols for elite sport for the first time in January. Rugby Australia has introduced laws to outlaw tackling above the sternum in levels of competition below Super Rugby in the past year to attempt to reduce the number of concussions.
