RUGBY league has come a long way since the days when concussed players were given a whiff of the smelling salts and encouraged to rejoin the defensive line, no matter how wobbly their legs.
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The NRL has recognised that player welfare is a serious issue and head knocks, in particular, have to be treated with the utmost caution.
It’s a good thing, too, because players can be our own worst enemies. The natural instinct is to play on, and not let down your teammates, and sometimes we have to be protected from ourselves.
But among all the new protocols and safety measures, I can’t help thinking there is one possible rule change that would make a lot of sense.
If your team happens to lose a player to foul play or an illegal act, you should be allowed to bring an 18th man into play as his replacement.
In our game on the weekend, for example, three Souths players were subsequently suspended for incidents that were deemed to be against the rules.
None of those incidents led directly to Newcastle players being injured and replaced, but potentially they could have done.
What would have happened then?
In the case of George Burgess, he did get sin-binned for his bust-up with Mitch Barnett. But imagine if Mitch had been injured, and ruled out of the game.
Burgess could still have played his usual quota of 50-odd minutes, but we would have been a man short.
Just picture the following scenario on grand final day. A key player cops a high shot.
They’re taken for a concussion assessment, while the tackler is put on report.
The doctors then decide the star player is medically unfit to resume, and his team gets beaten by a point.
There would be an outcry and a grand final would forever be remembered for the wrong reasons.
At least if there was a standby player – or even a couple of them – you would be able to make a replacement and the team would still have 17 men in action.
You wouldn’t have to leave players with ankle injuries or busted shoulders on the field, just to make up the numbers.
In saying that, injuries weren’t the reason we lost to Souths – we simply came up with some crucial errors early in the second half, allowing them to grab a lead.
Pleasing as it was to fight back and (again) take a match to the wire, we’re kicking ourselves because we know that game was there to be won.
On Friday, we probably face an even tougher challenge against Penrith, who are definitely one of the best all-round teams in the competition.
They’ve got some big men across the park, and a classy halfback in Nathan Cleary.
But if we stick to the game plan for 80 minutes, we’re extremely confident we can beat any team.
