Ricky Stuart, the coach of Canberra, has joined Wayne Bennett in accusing the NRL and RLPA of lacking trust in coaches and urging the league to change the position of the independent medics in the Bunker. In their 19-18 loss to North Queensland on Saturday night, the Raiders lost two players—fullback Sebastian Kris and backrower Corey Harwira-Naera—to HIA checks after both players had been taken out of the game by the independent physician.
“The RLPA and the NRL don’t believe in coaching. Do you believe I’d allow a player to play if they had a concussion? said Stuart.
While a player is down seeking treatment for a leg injury, I question him, “I don’t only trust the player’s words when he comes to the sideline with that, do you think?”
Although Corey may have received the HIA, we were forced to bench two players in crucial situations for the final 30 minutes of the game. Yet, the RLPA doesn’t believe in coaching.
“All they want to do is come and talk to me about how much more money and vacation time the players will earn.
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This weekend, Adam O’Brien of Newcastle and Wayne Bennett of the Dolphins have also criticised the HIA system, making Stuart the third coach to do the same.
Stuart said, “I don’t agree with him [Bennett] very frequently, but I do on this.
Bennett emphasised on Saturday that the clubs should have complete control over the system.
Before to the Dolphins’ opening game on Sunday, Bennett stated, “The game has never been more mindful about head injuries, and I think we do a lot of things properly.
But what they’ve done is shift responsibility away from the clubs and place it with a third party.
The clubs must take ownership of it. When they had their moments in the last few years, the game didn’t punish the clubs harshly enough.
“They brought some soft choices with them, but you don’t need an independent doctor if you make clubs more accountable.”
Star playmaker Kalyn Ponga hit his head on Addin Fonua-hip Blake’s during the Knights’ loss to New Zealand, according to O’Brien, who claimed the doctor was “jumping at shadows” at the time.
Ricky Stuart
The independent doctor, who was present at the game in Wellington due to its remote location, determined that Ponga’s head knock was severe enough to be a category two injury, necessitating his leaving the field for 15 minutes to be assessed.
Ponga would have been permitted to stay on the field if he had passed a trainer check had the incident been classified as a category three occurrence.
Independent doctors were placed in front of TVs at the beginning of last year so they could immediately assess several perspectives of occurrences, prompting O’Brien’s criticism.
According to the NRL, the doctors’ independence relieves pressure on club doctors, and their location away from the field ensures that choices are not influenced by the intensity of the game.