The FRONT ROW ROUND 6 2021 VOLUME 2 · ISSUE 6 Time for action Knights coach Adam O'Brien on what needs fixing in the Hunter Thanks Morgo A look back at retiring star Michael Morgan's best moments MIND YOUR HEAD IT'S PAST TIME FOR THE NRL TO OVERHAUL ITS CONCUSSION RULES INSIDE: NRL Round 6 program with squad lists, previews & head to head stats, Round 5 reviewed LEAGUEUNLIMITED.COM AUSTRALIA’S LEADING INDEPENDENT RUGBY LEAGUE WEBSITE THERE IS NO OFF-SEASON 2 | LEAGUEUNLIMITED.COM | THE FRONT ROW | VOL 2 ISSUE 6 What’s inside From the editor THE FRONT ROW - VOL 2 ISSUE 6 Tim Costello From the editor 3 A huge hand to clubs and supporters alike last week - the Feature Concussion 4-5 tributes and respect shown for Tommy Raudonikis following Feature Adam O'Brien 6-7 his sad passing last week across Round 5 matches was second Feature Michael Morgan 8-9 to none. While the Tigers were underwhelming against the Cowboys, there was certainly plenty of emotion at Leichhardt on NRL Ladder & Stats Leaders 10 Sunday - just as Tommy would have wanted. The Round 9 clash GAME DAY · NRL Round 6 11-27 at Campbelltown, which the club has set aside as a special day, LU Team Tips 11 should be a cracker. THU Brisbane v Penrith 12-13 This week our magazine looks at the key issue in the game FRI Newcastle v Cronulla 14-15 today - concussion. We also have a chat with Adam O'Brien and Melbourne v Sydney Roosters 16-17 pay tribute to Cowboys captain Michael Morgan following his retirement in recent weeks. SAT Manly v Gold Coast 18-19 South Sydney v Wests Tigers 20-21 Oh - and the crossword is back! Make sure you print off Page 39 Canberra v Parramatta 22-23 (or screenshot it on your tablet) and get cracking on it! Answers will appear in next week's edition. Happy reading! SUN St Geo Illa v Warriors 24-25 North Qld v Canterbury 26-27 NSWRL Teamlists 28-31 Knock-On Effect NSW Cup R6 28 The FRONT ROW U21 Jersey Flegg Cup R6 28 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Harvey Norman Women's Premiership R6 28 Ron Massey Cup R6 29 We’d like to thank RugbyLeagueProject.org for their support and use of Sydney Shield R6 29 various statistics throughout this publication. U19 SG Ball Cup Finals Week 1 30 Magazine content originally appears on LeagueUnlimited.com © 2021 U17 Harold Matthews Cup Finals Week 1 31 unless otherwise noted. Interested in advertising with The Front Row U19 Tarsha Gale Cup Finals Week 1 31 or LeagueUnlimited.com, or just want to provide feedback? Contact us QRL Teamlists 32-33 by email [email protected] Intrust Super Cup R4 32 BHP Premiership Women's R2 32 Thanks to the team at 'The Inner Sanctum' for some of the content appearing in this magazine! U19 Harvey Norman Women's R9 32 U21 Hastings Deering Colts R2 33 MANAGERS Steven Williams & Coby Delaney U18 Mal Meninga Cup R6 33 EDITOR Tim Costello NRL Round 5 Wrap 34-37 CONTRIBUTORS Paul Jobber Andrew Ferguson LU Player of the Year Standings - Round 5 38 Jacqui Dodd Super League, Championship, Challenge Cup 38 Vinny Holliday NRL Match Review & Judiciary - Round 5 39 Robert Crosby The LU Crossword 39 Josh Robertson Match Centre: NSWRL & QRL results 40-41 Adam Huxtable 2021 NRL Draw 42-43 Andrew Jackson Jason Hosken Sam Bourke Emile El-Azar Lachy MacCorquodale Twizzle Brennan LEAGUEUNLIMITED.COM | THE FRONT ROW | VOL 2 ISSUE 6 | 3 PAIN IN THE HEAD IT"S TIME FOR THE NRL TO OVERHAUL ITS CONCUSSION RULES... WORDS: JACQUI DODD In 2021 the NRL’s concussion rules are under more scrutiny “Whereas someone who is an independent medical assessor than ever before. doesn’t have that obligation. If the doctor is going to assess the player as a patient and say, okay do I see signs and symptoms, The third round saw eight players ruled out mid-match after what are they reporting how severe are those symptoms that failing a Head Injury Assessment (HIA) with the Cronulla Sharks they report, what is my medical prognosis of their recovery versus Parramatta Eels clash resulting in four concussions going to be like. alone. “With a club doctor there’s always the pressure not just from At present, the NRL has already enforced two rule changes coaching staff but we know from the research that players regarding concussions following the commencement of the themselves can try and pressure doctors to say you know what 2021 premiership season. Following the first round, the NRL I’ve got a headache but I’m actually okay, I think the headache ruled that players who fail an HIA will need to be cleared by is not from my concussions but I had a drink last night or I was an independent neurologist within 11 days of suffering the listening to some loud music or I went for a run/jog and I pushed concussion. too hard and I think that’s what is causing my headaches rather than anything post-concussion.” A change that created some confusion, as some believed that meant the NRL was following the AFL’s decision to rule a player “So that can also put undue pressure onto the doctor to try and out for at least a week. However, that couldn’t be further from sign them back quickly. So, I think that’s a good thing. the truth with five of the eight players suffering concussions last week named for their respective round four matches. “One of the things though having a club doctor is that a club doctor knows the player really well. While the science doesn’t necessarily support this I do know that there is some anecdotal evidence to suggest that the club doctors knowing the players really well can actually teeth out what actually is concussion and what may be some other effects. The headaches or nausea may be coming from neck soreness or some shoulder soreness that is impacting on a nerve that is travelling to the brain, there are two sides to the argument.” The second new rule to be announced was the controversial 18th man, not set to take effect until next weekend, for a team to activate the 18th man they will have to have three players fail an HIA throughout the match. The policy isn’t untested with the 18th man being brought into The Inner Sanctum spoke with Associate Professor in the NSWRL in the 2020 premiership season. However, NSWRL Neurophysiology at La Trobe University Dr Alan Pearce about teams didn’t need three players to fail their HIA but only needed concussion safety and the value of the rules being introduced. one player to fail to switch in the 18th man. With Pearce asserting independent medical assessors are less likely to feel pressured by clubs and players. Whilst the NRL is looking to avoid clubs exploiting the 18th man rule, the caveat of three players having to be ruled as concussed “I think having an independent medical assessor is a good thing. before the substitution can be brought in is being seen as a Because it takes it out of the responsibility of the club doctor purely cosmetic change that will rarely need to be utilised, with to feel a little bit pressured to get the player back as quickly as how rare it is for three players from the same team to fail an possible,” he said. HIA. 4 | LEAGUEUNLIMITED.COM | THE FRONT ROW | VOL 2 ISSUE 6 This article appears thanks to our friends at The Inner Sanctum. You can read the original - with embedded tweets - by clicking here. Mid-season rule changes are often seen as controversial, with the increase in players suffering from concussions, changes Dr Pearce described that a minor hit to a player with a history of need to be made for the sake of player safety without impacting concussions can have the player go down and take them out of the general play too heavily. the game for an extended period of time. “The scientific evidence is telling us that the more concussions The fourth round featured a bizarre decision to not immediately you have the longer or more severe the symptoms and it does pull Canterbury Bulldogs halfback Lachlan Lewis from the field, take longer to recover. following a head knock as he tackled Rabbitoh Josh Mansour. “Now the other side of it too is that for every subsequent Lewis remained on the field for the entirety of the Bulldogs concussion you get, you need less of an impact force to get attacking set much to the bewilderment of fans and the concussed. So someone, who has a history of concussions, it commentary box, before the referee ordered time off and for a may look like an innocuous hit to someone but they then go down trainer to help Lewis off the field. very badly and they’re out for quite some time. Following his removal, Lewis failed the HIA and was ruled out for “Because what we see is that the brain tissue becomes more the remainder of the match. vulnerable with every concussion. While every concussion is individual and everyone responds individually we need to take a bit of a conservative approach and have guidelines for subsequent concussions within a two-year window. “If they have had more than one concussion then the second concussion needs to have this amount of time out if they have a third concussion this amount of time out, but I think if you have a player that is getting multiple concussions then we’ve got to seriously think about their future as well.” Along with the introduction of the 18th man in 2020, NSWRL instituted that a player who suffers from a concussion will have a mandatory stand-down period of 14 days, focusing on the Had the 24-year-old engaged in a play in the additional 90 interest of player welfare and recovery.