Cordner retiring?

[zac]

they're saying he passed all protocols so that's good news

[FREEMAN89]

Boyds been ruled out this week.

Probably precautionary more than anything.

Wouldn't be surprised if he is also rested next week with a review leading up to week 1 of finals.

No point risking him until sudden death games.

Plenty of options to fill the void, left by Boyd.

[Steakface]

Kinda odd isn't it to say that we don't know any of the long term effects of head knocks in one sentence then immediately state that they definitely cause brain degradation in the next, isn't it?

Personally I think the CTE issue is massively overblown. It all stems from US sports with their litigious nature. They find a few hundred ex-NFL players with medical problems - all of them massive drug abusers and mental problems - and then chalk it all up to CTE from head knocks. The brain studies they've done are also self selecting, as the only people who want to donate their brains are the ones who have issues. None of the tens of thouands of perfectly healthy ex-players are interested in donating their brain to science. Its a skewed group.

Similarly in the NRL and league in general we have tens of thousands of former players in Australia. How many are we aware of who have major issues that also suffered concussions? A couple percent of that group? How does that compare to the general population?

There is something to this.

It's a similar thing with smoking. Smoking for your entire life does not mean YOU WILL get Lung Cancer. It does however, increase your risk.

Likewise with concussion. You have cases such as Fenech, Hastings for example who have been affected adversely, however there are others that haven't. Rugby League increases your risk, as does any number of other contact sports.

I think the current methods of dealing with the problem of CTE in Rugby League is astute. I think we've put in place quite a strong system for dealing with incidences, albiet one which may have room for improvement.

HOWEVER Aside from banning contact sport, there isn't much more room to move down the risk aversion path. Australian's love rules, regulations and being nannies however, so i have no doubt it'll be tinkered with and complained about ad nauseum, driven by populist media articles from the likes of Red Bandanna.

There is certainly a segment of commentators who won't be satisfied until the game is banned, or made non-tackle.

[Vasco]

Do people listen and understand that Boyd may not have been concussed on the weekend. Robbo said he stayed down more to do with the winding that a head knock. While he did hit his head causing the Dr wanting to assess him. Its my understanding this decision to rest him for the rest of the game was just as much a decision based on emotional state as much as a possible concussion. I think I actually heard that he passed the HIA. Dr Tom is fantastic and at all times his decisions are correct and based on player welfare

Exactly. Nothing like missing the facts to create some hysteria.

In saying that, I think Cordner has about 2 seasons left in him.

[Danish]

Suggest you do some reading on the subject if you really believe all that. Concussion and CTE in NFL is real and pretty scary. To put it down to some ex players trying to scam a few bucks out of it is very wide of the mark.

I'm not putting it down to that at all. Its just nowhere near as widespread as it is made out. People talk up the risks of head injuries for rugby league players as though it's in the same league as lung cancer for smokers. Its just not the case.

There are tens of thousands of ex-NFL and college players who are just fine in retirement. The ratio of players with problems to players without is miniscule. It's an even smaller fraction for rugby league players.

The risk of long term injury from playing contact sport is vastly overblown.

[Bansai Pipeline]

Boyd's the oldest looking 28 year old you've ever seen.

[Larry Long Balls]

I'm not putting it down to that at all. Its just nowhere near as widespread as it is made out. People talk up the risks of head injuries for rugby league players as though it's in the same league as lung cancer for smokers. Its just not the case.

There are tens of thousands of ex-NFL and college players who are just fine in retirement. The ratio of players with problems to players without is miniscule. It's an even smaller fraction for rugby league players.

The risk of long term injury from playing contact sport is vastly overblown.

I see your point. I think we have had some idea what was going on but chose not to really worry about it as a society. We are living through strange times.

[Danish]

There is something to this.

It's a similar thing with smoking. Smoking for your entire life does not mean YOU WILL get Lung Cancer. It does however, increase your risk.

Likewise with concussion. You have cases such as Fenech, Hastings for example who have been affected adversely, however there are others that haven't. Rugby League increases your risk, as does any number of other contact sports.

I think the current methods of dealing with the problem of CTE in Rugby League is astute. I think we've put in place quite a strong system for dealing with incidences, albiet one which may have room for improvement.

HOWEVER Aside from banning contact sport, there isn't much more room to move down the risk aversion path. Australian's love rules, regulations and being nannies however, so i have no doubt it'll be tinkered with and complained about ad nauseum, driven by populist media articles from the likes of Red Bandanna.

There is certainly a segment of commentators who won't be satisfied until the game is banned, or made non-tackle.

Without trying to belittle the man, was Fenech ever honestly the full quid?

As for Hastings, he has suffered depression since retiring, which is very tough and undoubtedly horrible for him. There is nothing to say he is depressed because of headknocks though. Its pure correlation. Plenty of people who spend their lives working at a desk also wind up suffering from depression too.

I wouldn't liken it to cancer at all, given the risk is nowhere near comparable. Smokers have something like a 60-70% of getting lung cancer from their habit. We aren't seeing 60-70% of ex-players struck down with CTE. Its not even 6-7%. Its probably more along the lines of <1%. And thats only on the assumption that every player who presents with symptoms actually has CTE.

[Danish]

Boyd's the oldest looking 28 year old you've ever seen.

He was a genuine 40/20 when playing NYC

[Spirit of 66]

Robbo was asked about Boyd’s possible early retirement in today’s media interview. He evaded the question.

[FREEMAN89]

Robbo was asked about Boyd’s possible early retirement in today’s media interview. He evaded the question.

Which isn't like Robbo, normally he's a straight shooter and wouldn't hesitate to dismiss claims that are wide of the mark.

[zac]

Robbo was asked about Boyd’s possible early retirement in today’s media interview. He evaded the question.

my take was that he doesn't want to talk about sensitive issues in public. fair enough. no doubt they're honest and frank with each other behind closed doors.

[Bansai Pipeline]

He was a genuine 40/20 when playing NYC

That’s brilliant

[Maxy Walker]

I'm not putting it down to that at all. Its just nowhere near as widespread as it is made out. People talk up the risks of head injuries for rugby league players as though it's in the same league as lung cancer for smokers. Its just not the case.

There are tens of thousands of ex-NFL and college players who are just fine in retirement. The ratio of players with problems to players without is miniscule. It's an even smaller fraction for rugby league players.

The risk of long term injury from playing contact sport is vastly overblown.

Most of that is just your assumptions not fact.

[zac]

yeah, it's an issue. put it this way - it's more likely the incidence of long term brain injury has been under reported than over reported.