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Under a cloud: Canterbury’s James Graham scores against Melbourne in his controversial round-four appearance after suffering a heavy hit.
The NRL is still looking into whether the Bulldogs breached the new concussion rules by not removing English prop James Graham from the field immediately after a heavy tackle in their round four win over Melbourne and later allowing him to return.
Canterbury were already one of three clubs asked to provide an explanation about possible breaches of the strict guidelines introduced this season after second-rower Josh Jackson continued playing in the round two match against Cronulla at ANZ Stadium.
Parramatta and Penrith are the other two clubs asked to provide more information about incidents in which players showed signs of concussion but played on. Eels centre Will Hopoate did not come from the field at all in the club’s opening round win over the Warriors, while Panthers hooker James Segayaro stayed in the defensive line until the end of a set of tackles against Melbourne in round two.
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Graham initially waved a Bulldogs trainer away after putting his head in an awkward position as he tackled Storm prop Jesse Bromwich in the second minute of the match in Perth. The Englishman appeared to stagger back into the defensive line and made another tackle before he was eventually taken from the field.
After undergoing a concussion assesment, Graham returned to the field 12 minutes later but commentators, who predicted he would be ruled out of the match, questioned whether he should have remained on the field after appearing to suffer another head knock before scoring a try in the 60th minute. Fairfax Media columnist Peter FitzSimons took aim at the NRL last Saturday for the lack of action against the Bulldogs over the Graham incident but officials on Monday said it was still being investigated and no decision had been made.
The NRL receive the results of all SCAT-3 sideline concussion tests conducted by club doctors but have asked Canterbury, Parramatta and Penrith to provide more information over the four incidents involved Graham, Jackson, Hopoate and Segayaro. The NRL has made it a priority this year to get the message across to clubs that concussion is a serious player welfare issue and most in the game have embraced the changes.
Penalties for ignoring the new rules range from the loss of competition points, a substantial fine or the suspension of registration of key personnel.
The NRL is still looking into whether the Bulldogs breached the new concussion rules by not removing English prop James Graham from the field immediately after a heavy tackle in their round four win over Melbourne and later allowing him to return.
Canterbury were already one of three clubs asked to provide an explanation about possible breaches of the strict guidelines introduced this season after second-rower Josh Jackson continued playing in the round two match against Cronulla at ANZ Stadium.
Parramatta and Penrith are the other two clubs asked to provide more information about incidents in which players showed signs of concussion but played on. Eels centre Will Hopoate did not come from the field at all in the club’s opening round win over the Warriors, while Panthers hooker James Segayaro stayed in the defensive line until the end of a set of tackles against Melbourne in round two.
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Graham initially waved a Bulldogs trainer away after putting his head in an awkward position as he tackled Storm prop Jesse Bromwich in the second minute of the match in Perth. The Englishman appeared to stagger back into the defensive line and made another tackle before he was eventually taken from the field.
After undergoing a concussion assesment, Graham returned to the field 12 minutes later but commentators, who predicted he would be ruled out of the match, questioned whether he should have remained on the field after appearing to suffer another head knock before scoring a try in the 60th minute. Fairfax Media columnist Peter FitzSimons took aim at the NRL last Saturday for the lack of action against the Bulldogs over the Graham incident but officials on Monday said it was still being investigated and no decision had been made.
The NRL receive the results of all SCAT-3 sideline concussion tests conducted by club doctors but have asked Canterbury, Parramatta and Penrith to provide more information over the four incidents involved Graham, Jackson, Hopoate and Segayaro. The NRL has made it a priority this year to get the message across to clubs that concussion is a serious player welfare issue and most in the game have embraced the changes.
Penalties for ignoring the new rules range from the loss of competition points, a substantial fine or the suspension of registration of key personnel.
